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.
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. 
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