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Church Cancels Former NFL Player's Speech After Support for Collins

Former Green Bay Packers All-Pro safety LeRoy Butler tweeted his congratulations to NBA player Jason Collins for publicly revealing that he is gay. And now: A Wisconsin church has cancelled Butler's paid speaking appearance.

Butler was scheduled to give an "anti-bullying presentation" and notes the irony to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Butler was told by church officials that they would cancel the presentation unless he removed the tweet, apologized and asked God's forgiveness. "This is what bothers me the most. They said, 'If you ask for forgiveness and remove the tweet and you say something to the effect that you don't congratulate (Collins) then we'll let you do the engagement and get the speaker's fee, and I said I'm not doing that," Butler said Wednesday.

"This is a man's personal story. I've always been on the record saying if there was a gay person in the Packer locker room, I would have played with them. All I care about is if you can run and jump, and can you win Super Bowls," Butler said.

Butler says the speaking fee was $8500 and that local sponsors "usually help the church raise money to cover his fee."

LeRoy Butler played his entire 11-season NFL career with the Green Bay Packers from 1990–2001. He was four times All-Pro, four times Pro Bowl and was a key player on the Packers' Super Bowl XXXI championship.

"Delete the tweet, ask for forgiveness, condemn the gay ball player .. and we give you the money!" Something tells me that is not very WWJD.

MILWAUKEE: Trial Dates for 5 Men Accused in Murder of Evon Young

There are new developments in the tragic case of Evon "YungLT" Young, the 22-year-old transgender man who was an emerging local rapper and songwriter. Young was tortured and killed on January 1. Five men have been arrested and charged.

Trial dates have been set "for June and July in the case being prosecuted by the Milwaukee District Attorney's office," reports the Wisconsin Gazette. "First-degree homicide charges [have been filed] against Victor Stewart, 27; Ashanti Mcalister, 19; Billy R. Griffin, 26; Ron Joseph Allen, 37; and Devin L. Seaberry, 23."

Investigators believe Young's remains were transported to a landfill site in Menomonee Falls. The search was discontinued in mid-February, reports ABC 12.

Police said detectives, landfill workers, a local excavating company and dog handlers conducted an exhaustive search under "challenging circumstances," but remains were not found. Investigators have found other physical evidence to support the charges issued by the district attorney's office, police said.

Young's mother, Annette Perry, told 12 News she just wanted her child back. "It is my right as his mother to have him back. I don't care how. I just want him back," said Perry.

Family and friends refused to give up hope on finding Young's body. "We want the love and emotion from his family and see that he has supporters and people do care about him outside of those who knew him in his immediate family," said Tony Reese Jr., Young's former music manager.

Police believe that Young was killed as part of a brutal gang initiation. The "altercation stemmed from a vendetta Griffin had with [Young] and escalated into the group beating and then shooting Young."

Memorial services were held two weeks ago, reports NBC 4.

A music video dropped for YungLT's track "Room Full" in late November. Ironically, one of the murder suspects can be seen standing next to Young in the video. Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...

MILWAUKEE: Search Continues for Evon Young's Remains

Today is Day 7 of the police search for the remains of Evon "YungLT" Young at a landfill near Milwaukee. The 22-year-old transgender man was an emerging local rapper and songwriter. Young was tortured and killed on January 2. Five men are charged with first-degree murder.

"Cadaver dogs have become an integral part of the search" at the landfill,  reports WISN. The search may be complicated by today's snowfall in the Milwaukee-Chicago area.

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MILWAUKEE: 5 Charged in Evon Young's Murder Held for Trial

The five men charged with the murder of Evon "YungLT" Young have been ordered to stand trial in Milwaukee, reports WISN and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The 22-year-old transgender man was an emerging local rapper and songwriter. Young was tortured and killed on January 2. Detectives continue to search a landfill for Young's remains.

The five men are charged with first-degree intentional homicide. Police say there are differing accounts of the motive. The "altercation stemmed from a vendetta Griffin had with his roommate, but the detective said it escalated into the group beating and then shooting Young," reports WISN.

More details from yesterday's hearing at the Journal Sentinel. Warning: The details are graphic.

[Victor] Stewart claimed a beef had been simmering since a [house burglary] in August. According to the criminal complaint, the group accused Young of assisting in that burglary. ... [Detective Timothy Graham said] Ashanti Mcalister was holding a .22 caliber handgun and then struck Young twice in the face with the gun.

The group then took Young to the basement. Stewart told Graham that Young went willingly because he didn't believe he was going to be killed. But after Allen tried to suffocate him with a plastic bag, Young began fighting back. He was thrown to the floor. Then Allen, straddling the victim's back, took a three-foot length of chain that was in the basement, wrapped an end around both his hands and used the rest to strangle Young.

At some point, Stewart said, Mcalister shot Young three times and later disposed of his body in a trash bin, which Allen returned to later and set on fire.

Police believe the dumpster was removed on January 7 or 8 and taken to the Waste Management landfill site in Menomonee Falls. Three weeks after the body was disposed, the very difficult search for Young's remains began on Monday. Today is Day 4. Investigators are focusing on an area 200 feet by 200 feet—and 15 feet deep—of compacted trash.

A Facebook memorial "In Memory of Yung LT aka Evon Young" has been created.

Will they ever find Evon Young's remains? And will we ever learn why he was killed?

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MILWAUKEE: Vigil for Evon Young, Landfill Search
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MILWAUKEE: Vigil for Evon Young, Landfill Search Continues

There are several updates from Milwaukee on the horrific and tragic case of Evon "Yung LT" Young. The 22-year-old transgender man was an emerging local rapper and songwriter. Young was tortured and killed on New Year's Day. Five men have been arrested and charged.

A vigil was held last night for Young, reports WISN.

The murder suspects' first court hearing will be tomorrow, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "[They] are scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing. All face counts of first-degree intentional homicide as parties to a crime."

Police believe that Young was killed as part of a brutal gang initiation. The suspects allegedly tossed Young's body in a dumpster as if he were common trash. Three weeks after the body was disposed, the very difficult search for Young's remains began on Monday at the Waste Management landfill site in Menomonee Falls, reports the Journal Sentinel. Today is Day Three. 

According to the criminal complaint, some confessed that the victim's body was wrapped in a sheet, put in an apartment complex trash bin and set on fire. But by the time police knew this, the bin had been emptied, sometime around Jan. 8, Milwaukee police Lt. Kenneth Grams said.

The city emptied the bin and the contents were trucked to a transfer station at Industrial Drive, where Waste Management picked it up and deposited it at the company's sprawling landfill.

But the company's records allowed investigators to focus on one area of the landfill that was receiving waste at the time, Grams said, and so when the search began Monday it was focused on an area 200 feet by 200 feet - and 15 feet deep - of compacted trash.

Milwaukee's FOX 6 produced a thoughtful report on Young's murder and the painstaking search for remains. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

5 Arrests in Milwaukee After Brutal Murder of Trans Rapper "Yung LT"

PHOTO: FORGE

This story is horrific and heartbreaking on so many levels. Five men in Milwaukee have been arrested and are charged in connection with the gruesome murder of Evon "Yung LT" Young on New Year's Day. The suspects allegedly tossed the trans man's body in a dumpster as if he were common trash ... and three weeks later "authorities are [still] searching a landfill" for the remains, reports FOX 6.

The 22-year-old transgender man was an emerging local rapper and songwriter. A music video dropped for his track "Room Full" only two months ago. Ironically, one of the murder suspects can be seen standing next to Young in the video. Watch FOX 6's news report and the music video WHEN YOU JUMP ...

Police believe that Young was killed as part of a brutal gang initiation, reports the WisconsinGazette.com. Warning: The details are quite graphic.

The Milwaukee District Attorney’s office has charged all five with first-degree intentional homicide. According to the complaint, Young and [roommate Billy R. Griffin] were home when the door bell rang. ... The [four] men entered and went into the kitchen, where an argument ensued.

Griffin allegedly told police that the men began to punch Young and said the victim could not be trusted. Young then was led to the basement, where the attackers choked Young with a chain. Then they placed a plastic bag over his head, rendering Young unconscious. The assailants beat and shot Young, possibly as many as three times. Mcalister allegedly fired the weapon.

Authorities allege the basement was cleaned with beach. Evidence collected in the crime includes DNA, blood, burned clothing and a chain.

It was the wife of one of the suspect's who lead police to her husband. Victor Stewart's "wife told police said she filed the stolen car complaint because Stewart didn't return her car until 6 a.m. Jan. 2, and it smelled like bleach. She said she found a bottle of bleach in the trunk," reports WISN

A Facebook memorial "In Memory of Yung LT aka Evon Young" has been created. Watch FOX 6's news report and the music video WHEN YOU JUMP ...

REPORT: Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooter ID'd as White Supremacist

PHOTOS: REUTERS, JOURNAL SENTINEL

The man accused of killing six people in a shooting people at a Sikh place of worship in suburban Milwaukee has been identified as an Army veteran with ties to racist and white supremacist organizations.

Three people remain hospitalized in critical condition after Sunday's tragedy in Oak Creek. Dozens of worshipers were at the temple when the gunman began his rampage, which some authorities are describing a "domestic terrorist incident."

The gunman has been identified as Wade Michael Page, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinell. Page is described as a "skinhead" with links to the extremist Stormfront website.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reported Monday that Page was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band known as End Apathy. Heidi Beirich, director of the center's intelligence project, said her group had been tracking Page since 2000, when he tried to purchase goods from the National Alliance, a well-known hate group.

Also on Monday, a volunteer human-rights group called Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) found links between Page, his band and a white supremacist website called Stormfront. Jeffrey Imm, who heads R.E.A.L., said in an interview Monday that someone based in Milwaukee using the name "End Apathy" began posting on the website in February 2008. Additionally, appearances by Page's band were promoted on the Stormfront site, including a white supremacist gathering in March 2012 in Richmond, Va.

Page served in the military from 1992 to 1998 as "psychological operations specialist and "missile repairman", according to Reuters. "In June 1998 he was disciplined for being drunk on duty and had his rank reduced to specialist from sergeant. He was not eligible to re-enlist."

The Wisconsin shooting came barely two weeks after 12 people were killed and almost 60 injured in a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. That happened during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

Sikhism is reportedly the fifth largest religion in the world and boasts approximately 500,000 observers. The sect originated in the Punjab area of Southwest Asia. There has been a marked increase in violence and hate crimes against Sikhs since September 11th, 2001, as many Sikh men have been mistaken for Muslim during the growing wave of anti-Muslim sentiment.

VIDEO: DNC Attack Ad Says Mitt Romney is "Willing to Say Anything"

The Democratic National Committee has released a television ad that targets Mitt "Multiple Choice" Romney. The  commercial describes the Republican presidential candidate and frequent flip-flopper as "two"men trapped in one body" and "willing to say anything."

The 30 second spot will run in six battleground markets: Albuquerque NM, Raleigh-Durham NC, Columbus OH, Pittsburgh PA, Washington, DC, and Milwaukee WI. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: NBA Player Brandon Jennings Does Lady Gaga

Milwaukee Bucks rookie point guard Brandon Jennings pays off a bet, serves his best BQ realness and dances to Lady Gaga's "Love Game." Oh and there's the obligatory "pause" Tweet to confirm his heterosexuality. LOLz

You do you, Brandon. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

CDC: 42 Percent of Black Gay/Bi Men in Milwaukee are HIV Positive

The HIV/AIDS caseload in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is exacerbating—especially for younger black gay and bisexual men. New data from the Centers of Disease Control report an "alarming" 160% increase in infection since 2000 among for younger black men who have sex with men. The CDC estimates 42% of Milwaukee's black gay men are HIV positive.

Mayor Tom Barrett and the Milwaukee Health Commission have named Diverse and Resilient, a non-profit LGBT community group formed in 1995, to work on outreach and testing to black MSM. That's a good first step, says an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Diverse & Resilient reportedly trained dozens of peer educators for last weekend's PrideFest. "Over the past three years, the organization has worked with more than 700 black, gay and bisexual men. The group also has worked with those most affected by HIV in this area - young, black men who have sex with men. Many have a difficult time talking about their sexuality out of fear of rejection."

The Centers of Disease Control began its investigation in 2009 after Wisconsin health officials noticed an "alarming rise" in the disease. The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin has described the rapid rise in Milwaukee's black gay/bi HIV infections as a "serious public health threat."

In May,  Black AIDS Weekly published our report: "New Data Reveal HIV Hammering Black Gay and Bisexual Men. The CDC reported HIV diagnoses among gay/bi men are more than 44 times that of other men. Even higher are new infections among teenaged black gay men.

Want to get tested? Click HERE for your closest location.