Laramie Project Essay

Fred Austin

Mrs. Cawlfield

SLCC Period 2

19 November 2014

The Case of Matthew Shepard

Matthew Shepard died on October 12, 1998, along with 26 other murder victims that year in Wyoming.  Shepard was no poster child, but a regular person that had problems just like everyone else.  Unlike the other 26 people that died in 1998, Matthew Shepard was openly gay.  Despite investigating the murder further to find other possible motives behind the attack, the Media jumped to conclusions and labeled the murder as a hate crime.  The media came bustling into the small community of Laramie, Wyoming, broadcasting the murder on national news and then “…descended and there was no time to reflect on it anymore” (Jon Peacock 50).  The town of Laramie was now “defined by an accident, a crime” (Jedadiah Schultz 7).  The media never got the full story behind this case, and portrayed Laramie as an outcast from the real world society.  In the next several years, strong evidence and new witnesses came forth that questioned the true motive behind the attack.  The beating, torturing, and eventually the killing of Matthew Shepard was initially publicized as a hate crime against his sexual orientation, but eventually found to be a murder caused purely by meth-induced rage.

The Laramie Project, by Moisés Kaufman, is one source that shows bias towards the murder being a hate crime.  The 200 interviews themselves are truthful and are not bias or mythologized to fit a certain belief.  It is the order of the interviews in the play that show bias towards it being a hate crime, “It is the structure of the play that gives it creativity” (Kaufman Artist Talk).  Kaufman arranged the interviews just like any other play by having the introduction and setting in the beginning, raising action describing Shepard’s life leading to the murder, and then falling action leading to the denouement; the court sentencing Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson to life in prison for murdering Matthew Shepard because of his sexual orientation. The structure does not serve the purpose to tell the life story of Matthew Shepard, but to show that Shepard was being targeted and murdered for being “different” and how this affects the community.  The murder of Shepard was directly linked to the murder of James Byrd, which happened around the same time. James Byrd was killed by getting dragged behind a pick up truck because he was black.  This caused society to assume that the motive behind the death of Shepard was the same motive behind the death of Byrd, a hate crime.  President Obama stated “…we will remember James Byrd and Matthew Shepard for years to come…” (President Obama Addressing Hate Crime Laws) as if they were related.  The rest of the American culture saw the people of Laramie as stagnate and isolated from the Modern world.  “People don’t like change because they don’t see diversity in rural areas” (RM News).  Everyone knew everyone in Laramie, so it was hard for people to accept people who were different, like Matthew Shepard being gay.  However, the Matthew Shepard case seemed to have been more complex than just a hate crime.

The 2004: ABC News 20/20 Report: The Matthew Shepard Case and the book of Matt revealed new information that the murder of Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime.  Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were interviewed for the first time after the event in prison.  Contrary to what they said in court, both Henderson and McKinney admitted that they did not kill Shepard because he was gay, but out of meth-induced rage.  McKinney stated during the interview, “ I have gay friends…they don’t bother me at all” (20/20 report).  Doc O’Connor also stated during the interview that he had “a three way” (20/20 report) with McKinney and another girl.  Aaron McKinney not only had gay friends, but would also have intercourse around or with other men.  According to McKinney’s wife, Kristen, “Aaron did not have any reason to be mad at Matthew for being gay because he was bisexual” (20/20 report).  This heavily counters what was said in The Laramie Project, that McKinney “did what he did because Matthew made a pass at him…teach him not to hit on straight men.” (Kaufman 91).  Why would McKinney teach Shepard to not hit on straight men if he was bisexual?  These conflicting ideals can only be explained if McKinney was not in his state of mind, but high off methamphetamines.  Meth is a drug that overpowers the id, the primal part of the brain that powers us to take what we want, when we want it, ignoring whatever the circumstances of the situation is.  McKinney and Henderson were both known to be addicted to meth.  They would go a week straight without sleep and would do anything for meth.  Henderson stated in the 20/20 report that him and McKinney’s goal the night of the murder was to “find an easy target to rob (20/20 report)” to get meth.  That person turned out to be Matthew Shepard.  Henderson even tried to stop the robbery by getting McKinney drunk so he would forget about the intended plan, but once one has a craving for meth, there is no stopping it.  “This craving cause you to use, and if you cannot use, it will drive you insane“ (Meth: Inside out).  McKinney had too big of a craving for meth that he could excessively beat the living hell out of Shepard with no remorse.

   

The 20/20 report does show bias by not acknowledging other motives behind the murder.  It only focused on contradicting the mainstream media of the event and that the murder was caused solely by methamphetamines.  For example, the 20/20 report criticized the media for making out Matthew Shepard to be a poster child, when actually Shepard did meth, was HIV positive, and ”was thinking about committing suicide” (Doc O’Connor 20/20 report).  Also, the media saw the culprits as trailer trash that did not know Shepard before the attack, but Elaine stated that, “ they were friends for god sake” (Book of Matt), implying that McKinney and Shepard knew of each other before the attack.  Based off the interviews off the 20/20 report, the media had mythologized the Matthew Shepard case because they did not fully understand the story behind Matthew Shepard and assumed that the murder was a hate crime.  The mythology of Shepard did promote positive ramifications like creating awareness of hate crimes and improving hate crime laws across the country.  The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd hate crime act passed on October 22, 2009 and was signed into law by Barack Obama on October 28, 2009.  This law expands the previous hate crime law to include crimes motivated by victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.  Now, it is difficult say that 20/20 report and the Book of Matt is completely factual, but theses two sources did a more in-depth investigation of the crime than The Laramie Project and the media.

The information presented to us by these sources, whether it was factual or a myth, did lead to large social influences in Laramie and across the country.  The death of Matthew Shepard not only improved hate crime laws, but it led to a movement to accept gay people for who they are.  “We’re still going to have people who hold with the old ideals, and I was probably one of them fourteen months ago. I’m not going to put up with it…the door goes both ways.  I already lost a couple of buddies. I don’t care” (Rob Debree 84).  This quote shows that the people who were once not necessarily accepting of gay people have changed their ideals and beliefs after the murder of Matthew Shepard, even if it means losing close friends.  “I noticed the most incredible thing…as the parade came down the street…the number of people walking for Matthew Shepard had grown five times.  Tears were streaming down my face.  Thank god that I could see this in my life time…thank you Matthew Shepard” (Harry Woods 61).  Harry Woods is gay and has lived in Laramie for many years, and he has never seen something like this happen.  This quote reinforces that death of Matthew Shepard started a movement to support anti-hate towards gay people.  This movement led to a beneficial influence on the town of Laramie, unlike the revealing drug world of Wyoming.  “Meth is what made the world go around in Laramie” (NPR interview).  Meth was a large part of the community in Laramie, where it was made and distributed, and one of the causes of Shepard’s death.  Laramie is seen as one of the drug capitals of the country by the locals and the media.

The death of Matthew Shepard created large media and social movements in the United States, but the question still exists whether the murder was a hate crime or not.  There is no way of finding the exact answer behind the motive of the attack; we can only use the evidence at hand to find the most likely solution.  Although there may have been some gay-hate towards Matthew Shepard, the underlying motive behind the attack is meth. There have been conflicting stories on whether McKinney and Henderson acted gay to get Shepard to leave the bar with them, or that Shepard asked for a ride home.  Nevertheless, the excessive beating of Matthew Shepard would not have happened if McKinney was not so stung out on meth.   

Work Cited

"Imagine a World Without Hate. Watch the Video!" Imagine a World Without Hate. Anti-defamation League, 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

"President Obama's Remarks at WH Hate Crimes Act Reception." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Oct. 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

"Excerpt: The Book Of Matt." NPR. NPR, 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

Blair, Elizabeth. "'Ten Years Later,' The Matthew Shepard Story Retold." NPR. NPR, 12 Oct. 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

"Artist Talk: The Laramie Project Cycle with Judy Shepard and Moisés Kaufman." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

"10 Years After Matthew Shepard's Murder." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Oct. 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

Kaufman, Moisés. The Laramie Project. New York: Vintage, 2001. Print.

Laramie Described

“A town of personality that most larger cities are stripped of. Now, after Matthew, I would say that Laramie is a town defined by an accident, a crime” (Kaufman 7).

“The cowboy state has its rednecks and yahoos for sure, but there are no more bigots per capita in Wyoming than there are in New York, Florida, or California” (Kaufman 44).

“I think right now our most important teachers must be Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. They have to be our teachers” (Kaufman 86).

Points of Bias

Matthew Shepard died on October 12, 1998, along with 26 other murder victims that year in Wyoming.  Shepard was no poster child, but a regular person that had problems just like everyone else.  Unlike the other 26 people that died in 1998, Matthew Shepard was openly gay.  Despite investigating the murder further to find other possible motives behind the attack, the Media jumped to conclusions and labeled the murder as a hate crime.   The media came bustling into the small community of Laramie, Wyoming, broadcasting the murder on national news and then “…descended and there was no time to reflect on it anymore.” (Jon Peacock 50).  The town of Laramie was now “defined by an accident, a crime.” (Jedadiah Schultz 7)  The media never got the full story behind this case, and portrayed Laramie as an outcast from the real world society.  Although, in the next several years, strong evidence and new witnesses came forth that questioned the true motive behind the attack.  The beating, torturing, and eventually the killing of Matthew Shepard was not only hate crime against his sexual orientation, but also a murder caused purely by meth-induced rage.

The Laramie Project, by Moisés Kaufman, is one source that shows bias towards the murder being a hate crime.  The 200 interviews themselves are truthful and are not bias one way or anther.  It is the order of the interviews in the play that show bias towards it being a hate crime.  Kaufman arranged the interviews just like any other play by having the introduction and setting in the beginning, raising action describing Shepard’s life leading to the murder, and then falling action leading to the denouement; the court sentencing Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson to life in prison for murdering Matthew Shepard because of his sexual orientation.  The purpose behind the play is not to tell the life story of Matthew Shepard; it’s about being targeted and murdered for being “different” and how this affects the community.  The murder of James Byrd is another example of how people are killed based on their race or sexual orientation.  Three white men dragged Byrd behind a pick up truck for three miles and then dumped his torso in front of an African-American cemetery.  There are no other credible motives behind the attack other than it being a hate crime against Byrd’s race.  However, unlike the James Byrd Case, the Matthew Shepard case seemed to have been more complex than just a hate crime.  The 2004: ABC News 20/20 Report: The Matthew Shepard Case revealed new information that the murder of Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime.  Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were interviewed for the first time after the event in prison.  Defying what they said in court, both Henderson and McKinney admitted that they did not kill Shepard because he was gay, but out of meth-induced rage.  The 20/20 report does show bias towards the crime by only acknowledging their point of view and not other possible motives like the hate crime.             

Media

     Laramie, Wyoming, was a small town with a population of 27,024 people and not not very well known by the American public.  But, soon after the death of Matthew Shepard, Laramie became the eye of the media.  The media mainly portrayed Laramie and the people living their as isolated rednecks that aren’t apart of modern society.  “Now, after Matthew, I would say that Laramie is a town defined by an accident, a crime.” (Jedadiah Schultz 7)  Laramie was never known for their friendly community, where everybody knew everybody, but only for the murder of Matthew Shepard and drug circle that went on.  Laramie was stereotyped for what Henderson and McKinney did, and the People of Laramie eventually started to believe that maybe their town was corrupted.  “Jesus Christ, well that’s how it is here.” (Tiffany Edwards 53) Watching all the news reports made the people of Laramie second-guess their culture of all one big family, to a group of people that murder others out of hate or for drugs. The Media was so mainly focused on the whether murder was a hate crime or maybe a drug deal that went wrong, that they missed many other parts to the story that are part up the in the Laramie Project.  “…the media descended and there was no time to reflect on it anymore.” (Jon Peacock 50)  The news came bustling into Laramie disturbing the life of the locals and left before many could tell their story.  Overall, the media left behind much of this story about of the murder of Matthew Shepard, and only really focused on the hate crime part.

     The background of this Murder was much more complex then what the media initially portrayed.  The Laramie Project, The Book of Matt, and the 20/20 interview are all sources that go into more depth about the murder and the perpetrators themselves.  There are many other potential motives behind the incident then it just being a hate crime.  “I knew the whole thing was a lie.  Aaron did not hate him for being gay.  They were friends for god sake.” (Elaine 38)  There are many people, including Elaine and Doc O’Connor, who saw McKinney and Shepard hang out at times.  Shepard was said to be doing sexual favors for McKinney for drugs.  This clearly shows that McKinney did not hate gay people.  During the 20/20 interview, Russell Henderson did not show gay hate towards Shepard either.  Henderson said that him and McKinney were looking for an easy target to rob, and Shepard was that person.  Henderson even tried to get McKinney really drunk so that he would forget about robing Shepard.  Henderson also tried to stop McKinney beating Shepard, but got pistol-whipped in the face by McKinney.  This shows that Henderson didn’t hate Shepard because he was gay.  The more obvious motive behind the attack was meth rage.  In the NPR interview, “Meth is what made the world go around in Laramie.”  Russell and especially McKinney were addicted to meth and would go a week straight without sleep.  Meth makes the id, the primal part of your brain, much stronger than any other part of the brain.  This shows that McKinney killed Shepard because he was so strung out on meth to stop himself.  The murder of Matthew Shepard brought great awareness to improve hate crime laws, but one of the stronger motives behind the attack was because of meth.