Houston seaman’s aunt says source claims suspect feared being outed by her nephew
HOUSTON — The aunt of August Provost, a bisexual Navy seaman from Houston found murdered at Camp Pendleton last month, told Dallas Voice this week that the family has received information suggesting that her nephew’s killer is a gay sailor who somehow feared being outed by Provost.
Rose Roy, of Beaumont, the sister of Provost’s father, said in a phone interview Tuesday, July 14 that she’s "not at liberty" to identify the source who provided the information to the family. But Roy said the source told the family Provost had a heated argument with the suspect a week before his murder, and that the sailor now being held as a person of interest by the Navy has a history of mental illness.
"This guy went the extra mile to make sure that my nephew would never be able to speak about his [the killer’s] sexuality," Roy said. "My nephew died for reasons other than what the military is saying."
Neither Provost’s other family members nor his partner, identified as Kaether Cordero of Houston, could be reached for comment this week.
Roy’s latest statements marked a departure from previous assertions by her and other family members that Provost’s murder was an anti-gay hate crime.
Provost complained about being harassed because of his sexual orientation in the months prior to his death, his family has said. Some LGBT activists have speculated that Provost’s murder is tied to "don’t ask, don’t tell," the ban on gay servicemembers that could have deterred him from reporting the harassment to superiors.
Provost, 29, was found dead in the early morning hours of June 30 inside the shack where he’d been standing guard as a sentry for the Assault Craft Unit 5 compound at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The Navy has said Provost’s killer shot him multiple times and then lit a fire to destroy evidence.
Capt. Matt Brown, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest in San Diego, declined to discuss the military’s ongoing investigation of Provost’s death in detail this week. The person of interest is not being identified by the Navy and has not yet been charged with any crime, Brown said.
"Right now we don’t have any information to suggest that it was a hate crime, nor do we have any information that would link the crime to gang activity or terrorist activity," Brown told Dallas Voice, echoing his previous statements to the media. "A sailor is still being held, clearly tied to the commission of this crime based on physical evidence that our investigators have received to date and also the individual’s own statements."
Brown earlier told CNN that the person standing watch at the sentry station that day likely would have been killed regardless of who it was. U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, a Democrat from San Diego, has said the Navy told his office that Provost was killed by a man who was "storming Camp Pendleton."
"What I know about the murder is what the Navy so far has told us, which is not very much," Filner told Dallas Voice. "I think they ought to be far more open and far more in detail. They keep saying they know it’s not a hate crime, but they don’t give me enough information for me to agree with that or not. If they don’t do it right, we will have an independent congressional inquiry. There are several of us in Congress who are calling for that, and we’ll figure out a way to do it if we need to."
Filner added that while it’s too soon to say whether Provost’s death is directly tied to DADT, the seaman’s murder reflects "the real tragicness and the emptiness" of the policy. For example, Filner said Cordero learned of Provost’s death from a newspaper reporter because listing a same-sex partner as next of kin would violate DADT.
"The whole ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy is based around secrecy, and if you can’t be open and honest, and people can’t express opinions about it, repressed violence will have its day," Filner said. "The abolition of that would prevent either this happening or certainly the questions around it and allow for a more respectful notification when something tragic happens."
Among those in Congress who’ve joined the call for a thorough inquiry into Provost’s death is Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who stood alongside the murdered seaman’s family this week for a press conference in Houston. During the press conference, Provost’s mother, Melanie Provost, said the Navy initially informed her only that her son had been found unconscious in the guard shack and later died. Melanie Provost said she didn’t learn he’d been shot and burned until she heard it on TV.
"This death appears bizarre, and more facts need to be uncovered," Jackson Lee said at the press conference. "I’m appalled and outraged at the lack of facts that have been given to this family."
In addition to members of Congress, the case is being closely watched by several LGBT advocacy groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National Black Justice Coalition and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
"I don’t think we have enough information about the situation yet to make that statement," HRC senior counsel Cristina Finch said this week when asked whether she believes Provost’s murder is tied to DADT. "What I will say is that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is a discriminatory law that needs to end. The military is all about honor, and ironically it’s the one place where you’re told to lie about who you are. … Absolutely we continue to monitor the situation and make sure that the military conducts a thorough and impartial investigation."
Dave Gainer, a board member for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network who lives in Tarrant County, created a memorial page in honor of Provost on Facebook shortly after his death.
"The death of Seaman Provost was particularly hard on me because it happened on my watch [as an SLDN board member]," said Gainer, a former chief master sergeant in the Air Force who came out as gay after he left service.
"This is a little selfish I suppose, but I think the gay patriots are giving more of a service than our straight counterparts because we give up more to serve than they do," Gainer said about why he created the Facebook page. "I think the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender servicemembers are giving just a little more, and they deserve at least equal recognition."
E-mail wright@dallasvoice.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 17, 2009.
The United States of America, The United States Military, and their discriminatory policies are responsible for the death of this seaman.
STOP GAY APARTHEID! IT IS DESTROYING PEOPLE’S LIVES.
STOP GAY APARTHEID.
Nope! August was killed because he stopped a guy and his non military cousin from coming on base. The one guy had been resently speaking about burning a hovercraft.
My friend August wouldn’t let them on base and paid the consequences. Please quit reducing his life to a gay/straight issue. He was a sailor first and foremost and was protecting our country!!!
Don’t use my friend for your agenda!! He was and is a hero!!
To Mike and Lady X:
Read the story. It is not the LGBT community saying Mr. Provost was killed because of his orientation. His family is saying this.
You want to tell them to get off their “gay horse”?
You are right Rose. They guy they are holding does have a history of mental illness . He had told otherhe wanted to burn up a hovercraft . Sounds mentally ill to me!
Please quit using August’s death for your agenda etc. You first claimed it was a hate crime because he was black or gay. Now you say it was because someone not wanting him to release info about him being gay.
Sorry, you are wrong and reducing his life. August wouldn’t want you making all these wild claims and acting the victim
He was killed because he stopped a nut (possibly two) from coming on our base to burn up a hovercraft. HE WAS A HERO NOT A VICTIM!!
I really wish the Gay community would stop exploiting August’s Death. I didn’t know him, but I know people that did. They said he was an awesome guy and it wasn’t because he was gay, it was because of who he was and how he treated other people.
To set the record straight he was murdered, because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was murdered by another Navy man that was going to be put out of the Navy for Mental issues. The man’s name is Campos. He made threats that he was going to burn up a hoover craft. August was defending his post and died in the line of duty. He is a hero. He died defending what he was trained to defend.
Get off your hateful Gay horse and stop exploiting this wonderful man’s death , to further your agenda.
Stop Politicizing his death. Give him respect and honor!
What I wish is that this man could be what ever he wanted to be and not have to deal with don’t ask don’t tell. Thanks Dick Chaney for another gay asault.
The report is that the killer’s intention was to storm the camp and set fire to a hovercraft. Then why doesn’t he do that after killing the guard? Instead he takes time to put down his weapon, bring out some combustibles and ignite the guard booth. That makes it sound like the guard, not the hovercraft, was his primary target. Time will tell. We don’t have all the facts and can only speculate for now.
Since you “say” you were his friends and he was such a hero to you, then you should completely understand the gay community rallying behind him, even if we are wrong about why he died.
And of course you shouldn’t mind at all that now that he has been murdered it can become publicly known that he was gay, and he doesn’t have to hide who he is, and your “friend” can’t be kicked out of the military for it — which they would have done instantly if they had been told that your “friend and hero” was gay while he was alive.
Get this you f***tards in the military: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING GAY.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING GAY.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH SAYING HE WAS GAY AND MIGHT HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF IT.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HIS FAMILY FOR SPECULATING THAT HE WAS KILLED BECAUSE HE WAS GAY. THEY WANT TRUTHFUL ANSWERS AND THE U.S. MILITARY IS A LYING, ANTI-GAY, DISCRIMINATING (DID I MENTION LYING?) ORGANIZATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO GAYS (OR PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS) GETTING MURDERED.
SAYING HE WAS GAY, SAYING HE “MIGHT” HAVE BEEN KILLED FOR IT, SAYING THE EVIDENCE WE’VE HEARD ABOUT DOESN’T MATCH THE MILITARY’S CLAIMS (YET!), AND HAVING THE FAMILY DOUBT THE WORD OF THE LYING, SUPREMACIST, ANTI-GAY MILITARY, IS NORMAL FOR THE FAMILY OF A MURDERED GAY SAILOR WHO HAD TOLD THEM HE WAS BEING HARASSED FOR BEING GAY.
ALL BY WAY OF SAYING THAT BEING GAY, OR EVEN POSSIBLY BEING MURDERED FOR IT, DOES NOT MAKE HIM ANY MORE OF A “VICTIM” THAN GETTING KILLED IN ANY OTHER WAY IN THE LINE OF DUTY, ASSHATS.
GETTING KILLED WHILE ON MILITARY DUTY, FOR BEING GAY OR FOR BEING IN UNIFORM, DOES NOT MAKE YOU A VICTIM, IT MAKES YOU A STATISTIC. IF YOU ARE VERY LUCKY, YOU MIGHT BE CALLED A HERO.
THERE ARE NO HEROES (INCLUDING ME) POSTING TO THIS MESSAGE BOARD. THERE ARE NO HEROES COMPLAINING ABOUT WHAT HIS FAMILY AND HIS COMMUNITY ARE GOING THROUGH OR HOW THEY ARE GOING THROUGH IT.
Another HATE CRIME will go unpunished unless YOU act now! You can find your REP’s at this websit and email contacts:
https://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
Recently a young sailor, Seaman August Provost, was brutally murdered while standing guard duty at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside California. Based upon the information from the U.S. Military, he was considered to be â€a rising star.†The Military is working on the investigation, and although this is described as a very professional investigation, I am requesting Congressional review. Seaman August Provost was an African American gay man. His family has claimed that for the year that he served prior to his death, he was being taunted primarily for being gay and also for being African American.
A person can be both a hero and a victim at the same time.
Even if he was not murdered because of his sexuality, it is hideous that he was not able to identify his partner as his next of kin, could not file a report about the harrassment he was enduring, and had to hide any part of who he was in order to serve our nation. Is that any way to treat those willing to lay down their lives for us?