That feeling in the back of your throat is the memory of Matthew Shepard, and the realization that his horror may have just been repeated, albeit without the “left to die” part. A 19-year-old Texas man was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by two men, who grabbed him from a bar in Terlingua, near the Mexican border, before taking him to a remote location, sexually assaulting him there, then driving him to a residence, and again victimizing him. But that’s also where the man escaped.
The accused: “Terlingua Ranch resident Daniel Martinez, 46, has been arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault in the case, with at least four more charges from this case pending, and is being held on a $35,000 bond. Brewster County Sheriff Captain Rusty Taylor, lead investigator in the case, said Martinez has numerous prior arrests and convictions. Kristopher Buchanan, 27, also of Terlingua Ranch, is being held on two outstanding felony warrants from two other counties, with numerous charges from this case pending.”
For now the victim’s identity remains a secret, which is standard in sexual assault cases. It has not been disclosed whether the victim is gay.
And not only does it bring us back to Matthew Shepard, but also to 1994’s slew of brutal attacks on gay men. And we don’t have to leave Texas to remember that James Byrd, Jr., whose name accompanies Matthew Shepard’s on the just-passed federal hate crimes legislation, was tortured and murdered in Texas in a race-based attack in 1998.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Mike in Brooklyn
Hang ’em. Hang ’em high!
John Wright
Seems like you folks could at least give a hat tip to the source of your info.
Michael Letterman
So because the victim was a male this crime is worse than the hundreds of rapes committed against females in this country?
Rape is a crime of violence and has nothing to do with sex, it is a horrible crime in which the victim believes they have no control of what happens to their own bodies. Male or Female this is a horrible act. The perpetrators should be chemically castrated as the recidivism for this particular crime is higher than most others.
However to say the rape of a male is a hate crime while the rape of a female is not is unjust and a hypocracty of law.
Michael Letterman
Sorry that last line should read a travesty of law.
FakeName
Um, is anyone saying that these two are being charged with a hate crime, or even that they should be? Because if you wipe the spewed froth off your screen and actually read the story, you’ll see that no one is.
chris
@Michael Letterman
It’s a hate crime if the victim is attacked for being gay. Just the same as it would be a hate crime if a woman was raped for a being a lesbian….you dumb shit.
Keith Kimmel
This gonna be the first application within the contiguous 48 of the new law? Which bar was the vic grabbed from? That would give a good indication as to whether or not this is a hate crime or something else.
Michael Letterman
chris: then you miss my point entirely. Why is it considered a hate crime (with additional punishement) just because the vicitim is homosexual. Is it worse for a homosexual to be raped then a disabled person or a young woman? yet neither of those crimes are considered hate crimes. So why do the homosexuals need this “special designation” what reason?
FakeName
Hey Michael! Michael! Over here! MICHAEL!
Is there some reason you didn’t answer my question? The one asking who exactly it is that is suggesting that this incident be treated as a hate crime?
Did you re-read the article and its sources, realize that no one is calling this a hate crime, and become shame-faced over your misrepresentation and obvious trolling?
You didn’t?
Oh.
Wow, what a loser. Is there no more constructive way that you could spend your time than telling lies on gay message boards?
The girl
You could say that the rape of a woman is a hate crime… they were raped because they were women. Just sayin.
Michael Letterman
Fake: How about I say I preemptively made my comments assuming that was where people would take this story. Nothing I said was a lie as it is opinion and no one can claim anyone’s opinion is a lie.
The girl: I agree with you in theory however the law does not look at it that way. But yes rape of a woman is most assuredly a hate crime in and of itself.
FakeName
Well Mikey, we all know what happens when you assume, you make an ass out of you and your weasel-faced git self. You’re a liar by misrepresentation. Your comments misrepresented the nature of this story by pulling in the issue of hate crimes legislation when there was (and AFAIK there remains) nothing indicating that this was or is being treated as a hate crime. It is intellectually dishonest and base trollery.
Doug Jones
You guys don’t know anything about it. I for a fact live in Terlingua close to where this crime was committed, and I go to school with the victim. I happen to know that his car was also set an fire and he was left for dead. Oh, and Keith, there are only three bars down here so you would have to ask the accused whether or not it was a hate crime. But please, stop trying to over-analyze this. What happened, happened. And now its up to the judge to decide their fate
Michael Letterman
Fake: Ok so fakey I’ll tell whomever is holding the gun against your head and forcing you to read and respond to my posts to stop posthaste. Frankly I am not conserned with your opinion and feel that my statement stands on its own.
FakeName
“Oh, who cares what you think!” The traditional cry of the child who realizes he’s been beaten but is too chickenshit to own it. Often accompanied by the sound of derisive laughter as the person marches off in a huff to another part of the playground.
Michael Letterman
Fake: I’m thrilled that you likened yourself to a child on the playground. So by all laugh it up. I’m sure you could use the laugh seeing as your such a pathetic person.
FakeName
And “who cares what you think” is followed by “I know you are but what am I?” What’s next, “I’m rubber and you’re glue”?
Michael Letterman
Fake: How about a new, soon to be classic, I am normal your a douchefag? yes I like that one it has all the classic elements and it’s funny…. cause it’s true.
FakeName
Whatever troll.
Michael Letterman
Fake: How eloquent. Public school education huh?
FakeName
Says the guy who’s swiping insults from Details magazine.
FakeName
And say what you will about public education, at least I learned the difference between “your” and “you’re”. Criticizing other peoples’ eloquence and education works just a wee bit better when your own posts aren’t littered with poor spelling and atrocious grammar.
Michael Letterman
Fake: You have me at a loss, what is Details magazine? And what is it I am supposed to have “swiped” from them?
Michael Letterman
Fake: Since I usually do better at spelling and grammar what I learned from your statement is that I should slow down a bit and read what I write, thank you for pointing that out to me.
I am still pretty sure that things need to be dumbed down so you can understand them I will attempt to do that too.
FakeName
Sweetie, I’ve read enough of your posts to know that there is no way you could dumb yourself down any further that wouldn’t require a nail gun accident.
I’ll be moving on now. Get your last shot in; I won’t be reading it.
Michael Letterman
Fake: Of all the disgusting things you could call me (well things in your vocabulary anyway) the most low down dirty was, well what you wrote, I cannot bring myself to repeat it.
It seems there is no end to the depths you will sink. Granted I’m burdened by all of my advantages over you so there is only so low I can go before I again rise to the surface.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas, if that is your holiday of choice, and a splendid New Year.
SanityEmbodied
Obviously, FakeName, the numerous references to Matthew Shepard throughout this article imply that the authors believe this crime is in the same vein: a hate crime. Also, it would take a gay man (albeit perhaps latent) to rape a man: if not, how would he be erect enough to penetrate another? So, if a gay person kills another gay person (as has happened in numerous same-sex domestic disputes)does that make it a hate crime? Doubtful. Also, it seems to be a symptom of masculine paternalism that the ALLEGED rape of a single boy elicits more attention than the rape of any woman, unless the girl is murdered.
MarfaTX
i think its horrible that this story has been the catalyst of such lies. I live in west texas, not far from terlingua. we will probably never know if this was a hate crime or not, arguing about it over a computer is a waste of everyones time.
Michael Letterman
Marfa: I live in Texas too. Nowhere is it more vital to have this discussion then on the web. The world needs to know what is going on and people need to discuss and debate the issues.
When we stop doing that we’ll find ourselves suddenly living in a socialist state where people will abandon their rights to make decisions for themselves and leave that to the state to do for them. So long as we keep the debate alive and reach our own conclusions to the issues facing us we can control our own destinies.
TerlinguaLocal
The victim’s name is Bryan Stuart. I know him from school. Yet I find it wrong that a victim who is not a minor can make any accusation against anyone from a position of anonymous impunity. While I am not blaming the victim in any way, I must say that I find it much more likely that he was not in fact knocked out before being kidnapped, but most likely consensually agreed to leave with the perpetrators for whatever reason. Sex that is initially consensual can sometimes turn violent, especially when all parties are drug users (one being a dealer),and when the victim, who is not openly gay, might have changed his mind after either implicit or explicit consent. Also quite strange to burn a car in the middle of Terlingua Ranch: surely if the perpetrators were exercising bodily control over Bryan and wished to detain him taking away his keys would suffice. Also note that were he stranded in the desert after having his car burned, the numerous jagged rocks and cacti can tear one’s clothes and cause lacerations and bleeding. While I don’t deny that something dastardly happened, it seems as if all of the pieces don’t quite fit together from what I know of those involved, the terrain and the area.
Michael Letterman
Terlingual: Very interesting information and the local authorities are re-looking at all the evidence from the case with an eye towards different interpretations.
Jim
TERLINGUAL LOCAL’s posting is irresponsible and should be removed!!!
I know the victim also, as does anyone in Brewster County, but that doesn’t mean his name should be public.
Michael Letterman
Jim: I dissagree. The accused have every right to know who is making the accusation and the public has the right to know who is reporting a crime. This is allowed in every case where the accuser is above the age of majority.
You gays wanted special treatment such as being given a designation of “hate crime” when a crime is committed due to your perversity, that’s fine. But then you must follow the rules of discovery in these cases as you would in any other “hate crime”.
Jeremy
It’s standard procedure to conceal the names of victims in sex crimes, it isn’t special treatment.
I’m glad that with your last post you have revealed yourself to the world as the disgusting and hateful cretin you are.