Openly Gay Mayoral Candidate Found Dead

[FlimFlam]

Tragic

http://abcnews.go.com/US/miss-mayor-...ry?id=18614617

[FlimFlam]

Kind of surprised no responses.
This is kind of huge.
A gay black mayoral candidate with a chance to win in Mississippi.
He could have inspired so many young gay men and women but his life was cut short at 34.

[Scealle]

Oh no. This is so sad

[Corny]

Well, it's not clear if he was killed because he was gay ... but still, this has a foul taste.

• Political star Marco McMillian, 34, found dead on the Mississippi River levee around 9am on Tuesday
  
• A Democrat candidate vying to become mayor of Clarksdale would have been the first openly gay mayor in Mississippi
  
• Unnamed driver crashed McMillian's SUV on the highway at the time his body was discovered

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...=feeds-newsxml

[Stoowii]

All I read was 'Openly Gay candidate for mayor' and 'Mississippi' and that's all I needed to know.

May he R.I.P.

[RaKroma]

All facts are not in yet but people are already prejudging because this incident happened in Mississippi? For all we know, it could be another Manhunt date gone bad, fairly common with gay related homicides.

[Beachguyj]

Mississippi doesn't have a mayor.

[Corny]

Not "one", but there are certainly many mayors in Mississippi

As I said, it's still unclear. But since when are Manhunt dates ending in your body on a river bank "farily common"?

[menRsexii]

this is so sad i hate some people, i really do.

rest in peace, good sir

[star-warrior]

Sounds like foul play. I hope there isn't a white wash or cover up over his death.

[EvilTwinTwo]

This is truly sad.

[JP.]

He is still young

[Vitamin]

Yeah, this is really sad. I find it very suspicious that his body was found 30 miles from his SUV. Oh, and a phone call from an unamed guy? Sounds like somebody wanted his body to be found.

[PreTTy PeTe]

Mississippi is still burning sadly.

[rareboy]

Is it because he was a homo....or a black homo?

So fucking sad.

[kayman23]

All facts are not in yet but people are already prejudging because this incident happened in Mississippi? For all we know, it could be another Manhunt date gone bad, fairly common with gay related homicides.

Honestly, how many black gay males you know that still uses or ever used Manhunt?

I can count on 1 hand.

[kayman23]

Is it because he was a homo....or a black homo?

So fucking sad.

It's sad, period.


I'm not going say anything about the trend I'm starting to see here...it is telling on itself.

[Kraseviya]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/us...dead.html?_r=0

A 22-year-old man was charged with murder Thursday in the death of a candidate for mayor in the Mississippi Delta.
The Coahoma County Sheriff’s Department in Mississippi said in a statement that Lawrence Reed of Clarksdale, Miss., was under investigation in the death of the candidate, Marco McMillian, 34. Medical experts on Thursday performed an autopsy on Mr. McMillian, whose body was found beside a levee on Wednesday near Clarksdale, where he was running for office.

The police began looking for Mr. McMillian after his car was involved in a head-on collision on Tuesday on Highway 49.

Officials from the Sheriff’s Department released few details about Mr. McMillian’s death. The levee where he was found protects Clarksdale from the Mississippi River floodwaters and was miles from the traffic accident involving his sport utility vehicle.

Mr. McMillian, 34, was black and gay, but the police said they had no reason to suspect that his death was a hate crime.

It's horrible to think this is still happening in this day and age, but it stands as a reminder of how far we still have to go.
Mr. McMillian must have had a lot of guts to not only be openly gay in a town like Clarksdale MS, but to run for Mayor of it.
Clarksdale is a town where legend has it the bluesman Robert Johnson made a deal with the devil at the crossroads of Highway 49 and Highway 61. It's also a town where 39% of the population lives below the poverty line, and crime is rampant.
His family says they believe his murder was politically motivated, but we will find out when the trial happens.

His campaign posted on his Facebook February 7th.
“Fear is the enemy of faith. And faith is fear that said its prayers. At some point silence becomes the enemy. This is a fight for what is right. Join the movement!”

We can only hope that his death was not in vain, and might galvanize new changes for civil rights.
Possibly change a few minds too!

[Charmine]

Truly horrible.

[Kraseviya]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_1...sh-police-say/

The police are saying the guy who has been charged with murder was driving the McMillian's car when he crashed on a highway the day McMillian disappeared.
His body was found the next day.

[pat grimshaw]

It could have been 'a crime of passion'.

[diamondstar]

This is a damn shame. R.I.P. McMillian

[pat grimshaw]

http://www.justusboys.com/forum/thre...killed-in-Gary

[umjreon88]

Condolences to a bright young man who would have made a difference and impact to his community!

[zoltanspawn]

Clarksdale mayoral candidate Marco McMillian, found dead last week along the Mississippi River levee, was beaten, dragged and set on fire, according to his family in a statement released Monday.

[pat grimshaw]

The article doesn't say if it was a hate crime.

[Rolyo85]

The article doesn't say if it was a hate crime.

Considering the state, they'll never call it a hate crime.

[zoltanspawn]

The article doesn't say if it was a hate crime.

Dragging someone to death is a method typical of hate crimes. Not always, of course.

Does it seem like it might be a hate crime to you?

[pat grimshaw]

^ I don't know but hopefully there'll be more forensic evidence.

[bankside]

Okay the sister of the accused is teeing up excuses for murder. But getting hit on is not an excuse for murder anyway.

I'm not sure, rareboy, that being a black homo had anything to do with it. Most black murderers would not commit a hate crime against another black person on the basis of race.

[Kraseviya]

Dragging, beating, and immolating someone is overkill. Overkill is indicative of hate.
The only other dragging death I can think of is James Byrd Jr. He was a black man that was dragged to death by two white supremacists in East Texas. His murder gave impetus to passage of a Texas hate crimes law. It later led to the federal October 22, 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on October 28, 2009.

This case screams hate crime, but the Good Ol' Boys will never say that. That would mean a visit from the FBI.

[GreatZeus]

McMillian showed more courage and strength of character than most people, regardless of ethnicity or gender or sex, ever have.

[kayman23]

Dragging, beating, and immolating someone is overkill. Overkill is indicative of hate.
The only other dragging death I can think of is James Byrd Jr. He was a black man that was dragged to death by two white supremacists in East Texas. His murder gave impetus to passage of a Texas hate crimes law. It later led to the federal October 22, 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on October 28, 2009.

This case screams hate crime, but the Good Ol' Boys will never say that. That would mean a visit from the FBI.

I wouldn't exactly call the authorities there, Good Ol' Boys, considering the majority of governmental officials including the sheriff is black. (Cohoma County, MS is 65% black) This is more based on sexuality and one of the problems with some black Americans being callous towards sexuality-based hate crimes.

This is an endemic issue that overshadows many of us black LGBTs that have to deal with negativity from the mainstream society, neglect from the mainstream LGBTs, and negligence and disdain from heterosexual blacks. This one of the reasons why so many black LGBTs in groups socialized in among themselves. To better understand these problems facing black LGBTs I would encourage all to reading Rod McCullum's blog, Rod 2.0 on a regular basis.

The details of this case reveals this is hate crime and that the assailant likely had a sexual relationship with Mr. McMillian, but didn't want the knowledge of its existence to be known. He is going to try his best to use the "gay panic" defense hence why he told his sister, but McMillian's friends can refute this. There is now reports from McMillian's friends acknowledging this relationship was consensual because of how they random met (in a local bar/restaurant) months prior.