Hate crimes ahoy

Matthew, before he was killed.

Brian Deneke and Matthew Shepard didn't know each other. They didn't have many things in common; that is, until their death.
Brian was murdered when he was 19 for being a punk. Matthew was beaten to death when he was 21 for being gay. Both were wonderful people who cared about their community and did things to help. Both were murdered for being different. October 12, 1998 (Matthew) and December 12, 1997(Brian), are days gone down in history for many, tales of prejudice and hate. Since when did liking members of the same sex or having a green mohawk become a crime? Apparently somehow along the way, people have believed they are.

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Let's talk Brian Deneke. One night, a group of punks and preps were fighting in a parking lot. One of the preps, Dustin Camp, got into his car with a female friend and brutally ran over Brian. With 200 witnesses, including one in the car, who tesitied to Dustin saying things like "I'm a ninja in my Caddy" while running Brian over, you might ask why Dustin Camp didn't spend one night in jail and only got probation. Let me tell you: because our justice system sucks. By the way, last I heard, our Dustin broke his probation and got eight years in jail.

A year and two months later, Matthew Shepard was at a bar when two men who said they were gay took him outside. There, they tied him up, hit him by blows so hard they fractured his skull six times, torueded, and many other things. He was left for dead and found about 18 hours later by a biker who thought Matthew was a scarecrow;he looked so bad. His faced was caked with blood (besides what his tears washed off), he was unconsious and suffering from hypothermia. He died two days later.