Rod 2.0:Beta

Report: Indictments Expected in Newark Triple Murders

An update to the investigation into the fatal shootings of three Newark college students who were killed only hours before they planned to attend a black gay pride festival. Prosecutor say a grand jury could return indictments as soon as next month.

Terrance Aeriel, Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey were killed in August 4, 2007 when they were shot execution style outside a Newark elementary school. Harvey was openly gay, Hightower may have been lesbian, and, the friends "had planned to drive together to New York City the next morning to attend a black Gay Pride event at Riis Park Beach." Police also say at least one woman was sexually assaulted. Six men, ranging in age from 16 to 28, face murder, aggravated sexual assault, robbery and weapon possession charges.

Paul Loriquet, a spokesperson for the Essex County prosecutor’s office, tells the Washington Blade the grand jury is expected to finish its investigation in September or October. The grand jury will be asked to return indictments affirming charges stemming from the triple murder.

Although one of the victims was openly gay, authorities have declined to file hate crime charges in the case. Reportedly the victims' families "do not want" their deceased children identified as gay.

Indictments Expected Soon in Newark Triple Murder [WaBl]

Some Background ...
Families of Newark Triple Murder Victims Do Not Want Case Prosecuted as Hate Crime [R20]
Newark Triple Murders an Anti-Gay Hate Crime? [R20]
Triple Murders Victims Were in "the Gay Clique" [R20]
Newark Triple Murders: Sexual Assault, Gay Angle [R20]

Cullen Jones Makes U.S. Olympic Swim Relay Team

There were fireworks of a different kind over the holiday weekend in the Olympic swimming trials in Omaha. Rod 2.0 fave Cullen Jones qualified to compete in Beijing as a member of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay team—"giving him a chance to become the first African-American swimmer to win a gold medal", notes his hometown paper the New Jersey Star Ledger.

However, the Bronx-born swiming phenom missed his chance to win a second berth on the U.S. Olympic team when he finished third in the 50-meter freestyle. Jones swam in 21.81 seconds and the loss was a blow for the top-ranked swimmer, who was ranked first in the world in the 50m as late as last year.

Cullen Jones is one of the few blacks in swimming and has become an inspiration to youth across the country. "The trip to China will end a journey through water that began 16 years ago in inner-city pools, swimming on a team of minorities who, some people were certain, would drown before any of them ever reached the Olympic Games."

Cullen Jones falls short of 2nd Olympic berth [NJ]
A sullen Cullen [NJ]

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Sean Golden Competing for Spot on U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team

It's been too long since we checked in on Sean Golden, one of the top male gymnasts in the country and one of the few successful black men in the gymnastsics. This week, some very good news. The 25 year old, 5'5 phenom was just named to the national final trials for the U.S. Olympic Team and will compete at the upcoming USA Gymnastics Olympic trials next month in Philadelphia.

Golden is one of fourteen athletes who will compete in an effort to make the six-man Olympic team. "My first goal was to make the national team," Golden said. "My next goal is to make the Olympics. It will be great to go for that at home."

The Houston-based Golden is ranked second in the vault and third on the rings. If you want to see what he looks like beneath his lycra, KPRC-TV in Houston has an extended feature on the Golden boy where most of the video was shot with him shirtless and exercising. (No screen caps, sorry.) Discussing his impressively sculpted physique, Golden says he began training in high school. "Gymnastics was looked at as a sport that was done by girls most of the time. So, if you did it, you weren't male or masculine something like that. But, in high school, that's when the muscles and everything else came, so the idea changed behind it," Golden said."

Nice nice indeed.

Sender wins all-around gymnastics title [Inquirer]
Golden Hopes For Gold In Beijing [KPRC]

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News: New Jersey Family Leave, Jill Scott, Colorado, Andrés Duque

· New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) signs landmark legislation that mandates paid family leave for same-sex partners—making the state the second after California to have such a law. "Workers can apply for up to six weeks off to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, or a sick parent, child, spouse or partner, and collect up to two-thirds of their pay. The new law explicitly includes married spouses, as well as civil union partners."

· Nova at Soulbounce with the latest on Jill Scott: " "Whenever You're Around" has been chosen as the third single from The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. ... As of right now, there are no plans for a video to be shot, but in this day and age visuals are so important for a single's longevity and it would be nice to see Jill get her sexy on in a vid for this song."

· Colorado: The House gives initial "approval to a bill barring discrimination against lesbians and gays in housing and public accommodations." In May 2007, Gov. Bill Ritter signed a measure that bans workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

· No protection for LGBT employees in Wyoming. A federal appeals court overturns a lower court ruling in the case of a school district that discriminated against two former employees because they are lesbians.

· The BBC News profiles gay Latinos in the United States and talks to prominent activist and blogger Andrés Duque, who describes the mainstream gay community's fetishistic view of its Latino counterpart. "The only thing you see about Latinos in many of the gay magazines and guides here in New York is pictures of naked Latino boys or skimpy-clothed Latino boys," Andrés notes, adding he is disappointed by the lack of reporting "which actually talk about the gay Latino community beyond that sexual ideal".

· LGBT travel becomes extremely lucrative, bringing in an estimated $65 billion a year.

· After eight years, Florida finally passes anti-bullying legislation. The LGBT inclusive bill unanimously passed the state senate and the Sunshine State becomes the 36th state to pass anti-bullying law and only the second state to penalize schools that don't comply. Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is expected to sign the bill next week. "It’s a damn shame it has to be made into LAW before people realize that bullying kids who are LGBT is WRONG," says one reader at Queerty.

Report: Families of Newark Triple Murder Victims Do Not Want Case Prosecuted as Anti-Gay Hate Crime

Disappointing news in the investigation into the shootings of three Newark college students. The case will not be prosecuted as an anti-gay hate crime and reports indicate the families of the victims "do not want" their deceased children identified as gay.

Terrance Aeriel, Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey were killed in August 2007 when they were shot execution style outside a Newark elementary school. Harvey was openly gay and the crew "had planned to drive together to New York City the next morning to attend a black Gay Pride event at Riis Park Beach", a source tells the Washington Blade. Police also say at least one woman was sexually assaulted. Seven men face charges, four of them are juveniles.

"We have not been able to establish a hate crime" under the definition of the New Jersey hate crimes statute, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas McTigue announced. "We don't have probable cause for a hate crime."

Black gay activists say the families of the victims "did not support efforts to publicly identify the murders as an anti-gay hate crime. 'We were told that anything related to the victims' sexual orientation should remain a private matter,' said James Credle, co-president of Newark Pride Alliance, a gay group. 'They made it clear that they didn't want the case to go in that direction.' " The police and mayor have refused to label the case as more than a "robbery gone wrong" and Credle says anti-gay stigma remains strong in Newark's predominately black community.

This must be a difficult time for the families and they are entitled to their privacy. Unfortunately, if the victims were killed because they were gay (or the perception thereof), the beefed up charges would send a strong message to other families and the many young black gay men and lesbians in Newark and across New Jersey.

Evidence lacking for hate crime in Newark [WashBl]

Some Background ...
Newark Triple Murders an Anti-Gay Hate Crime? [R20]
Triple Murders Victims Were in "the Gay Clique" [R20]
Newark Triple Murders: Sexual Assault, Gay Angle [R20]

Newark Triple Murders: Arrests, Sexual Assault, Gay Pride Angle

New developments in the tragic August 2007 case of four black college students shot execution style in Newark, New Jersey. The Washington Blade reports another suspect is charged win connection with the crime, there is new evidence to suggest at least one victim was sexually assaulted, and, all of the victims planned to attend a gay Pride festival on the day after their tragic death. The new evidence bolsters claims by gay activists that the "robbery" homicide was a hate crime.

The Essex County, N.J., prosecutor’s office charged Shahid Baskerville, 16, with three counts of murder, three counts of aggravated sexual assault, and one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault, among other charges, in a crime that shocked the Newark community and attracted international media attention.

Paul Loriquet, a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, said the victim of the sexual assault was a female but declined to disclose whether she was the female student who died or the one who survived the attack. Loriquet said the sexual assault, allegedly committed by Baskerville, involved “sexual penetration during a robbery and sexual penetration while armed.” He was also charged with one count of unlawful possession of a weapon – a machete.

This makes the seventh male suspects to faced charges in connection with the shocking crime. One man is an undocumented Peruvian national, and, four of the suspects are juvenilles.

As previously reported on Rod 2.0, three of the students, two men and one woman, died at the scene. A fourth student, a woman, was also shot in the head and left for dead, but managed to survive and is cooperating with the authorities. After the brutal slayings of the Delaware State University students, friends said at least one of the victims, Dashon Harvey, 20, was openly gay. The other victims, Terrance "TJ" Aeriel, 18, and Iofemi Hightower, 20, were closed friends and Hightower was described as "tomboyish." "Some of the kids who hung with that clique were gay, some weren't, but it was widely known as 'the gay clique'", one person said.

Last year, gay activists criticized the Newark Police Department and Mayor Corey Booker, who said the "sole motive" behind the execution killings appeared to robbery, and, there was no anti-gay hate crime. Activists say they are outraged to hear there was a sexual assault involved in the case, because lesbians are often targeted for rape.

"We have been talking to the mayor's office and the police for months, asking them to keep us abreast of what is going on and whether any of this involves a hate crime," Laquetta Nelson of Newark Pride Alliance told the Blade. "Now we find out about this, and they didn't give us the respect and courtesy of calling us."

Newark triple murder involved sexual assault [Blade]

Some Background ...
Newark Triple Murders an Anti-Gay Hate Crime? [R20]
Triple Murders Victims Were in "the Gay Clique" [R20]

Gay Porn Twins Suspected in Tri-State Robbery Spree

Bad news for those of you hoping to see new streaming videos or XXX photoshoots starring twin brothers Keyontyli and Taleon and Goffney, who performed as Keyon and Teyon at popular black gay porn sites such as Blackmen.net, EbonyD and Flavaworks. The twins are behind bars in connection with a robbery from an ATM in a Philadelphia business and authorities suspect the brothers in dozens of similar cases across the Tri-State.

According to Philadelphia's CBS3 (video), detectives said the 26-year-old suspects "broke into the store by crashing through the roof" and allegedly stole about $2,000 from the machine. "Officers arrested Keyontyli at the scene, but, his brother Taleon escaped" and was later tracked to a nearby parking garage. Authorities say the dynamic duo "is suspected in as many as 50 similar burglaries in the tri-state area."

Taleon's case becomes more even complicated: Bail has been revoked because he already "pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and criminal mischief" for escaping from a moving police cruiser after "breaking a window by hitting it with his head. He had been arrested on drug and weapons charges." Prosecutors in South Jersey and Philadelphia will file a laundry list of charges against Taleon and it doesn't appear as if he'll be returning to VOD in the near future.

The abtastic and ripped siblings became popular after starring in a series of streaming videos with Marc Williams—if you can't tell them apart, Taleon has the distinctive calligraphy on his forearm—and Keyontyli gained some success as a mainstream model in at least one national underwear campaign and is featured in the latest CLIK. We've met the twins once or twice and they "seemed like really nice guys." Didn't have any idea they were troubled. Too bad.

"Keyon made his start into porn with us back in 2002," says Phillip Bleicher at Flavaworks. "He was one of the sweetest models we had ever worked with. We last saw him at New York City Pride in June 2007 and he again was friendly and caring. It's too sad."

Apparently, 'tis the season for troubled gay porn stars to reinvent themselves as felons.

PHOTOS: BLACKMEN.NET
THANKS BERNIE!

Twin Bros. Suspected in Tri State Robbery Spree [CBS3]
Phila. Arrest Ends Bail for Burglary Ring [Courier-Journal]

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News: Obama, Clinton, Civil Unions, Pharrell, Lawrence King, iPod

· Pauline Park at Visible Vote 08 crunches the numbers behind Barack Obama's dramatic victory in Wisconsin and notes "the significant progress that Obama made in enhancing his appeal with voters in the collection of demographic groups that may be termed the ‘Clinton coalition' ... Wisconsin is overwhelmingly white (87%). Obama won 53% of the white vote, compared to only 41% of Super Tuesday voters. The large white ethnic working class population of this rust belt Midwestern state makes Wisconsin a potential bellwether for Ohio, which now becomes, with Texas, a must-win state for Clinton."

· AP: Clinton candidacy fading?

· After 10 losses in a row, Obama "now has a widening lead in delegates that Clinton will not be able to overcome without very large margins of victory in Texas and Ohio and without a large majority of uncommitted superdelegates breaking her way."

· Producer-singer-songwriter-jewelry designer and style icon Pharrell Williams will introduce his own high-end furniture line "at the very prestigious Art Basel Contemporary Art Exhibition show in Basel, Switzerland on June 8th."

· The New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission reports the "state civil unions law has failed to ensure that same-sex couples enjoy the same rights as married heterosexuals" and "some employers have refused to provide benefits to the partner of employees in a civil union." Meanwhile, a spokesman says Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine "would sign a bill allowing gay marriage, but not until after November's presidential election."

· After last week's shooting death of 15-year-old openly gay high school student Lawrence King, "hundreds of parents filled an Oxnard [California] gymnasium Tuesday night to ask hard questions about why school officials didn't intervene more aggressively in an escalating feud between two students."

· Oxnard shooting prompts state legislator "to introduce a bill to expand diversity education in California schools."

· Tennessee: Legislators reject ban that prohibits "discussion of homosexuality in Tennessee elementary and middle schools." Indiana. "Republicans and some Democrats in the House" pressure the speaker "to allow a vote on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages."

· Apple cuts the price of its least-expensive iPod, the 1-gigabyte Shuffle, to $49 and will debut "a new version with double the storage for $69."

· Isaiah Washington joins the Huffington Post and The Daily Voice with a thoughtful piece on infant mortality. Queerty readers wonder if HuffPo comments are a legitimate forum to criticize Isaiah for his use of the "f-word" at Grey's Anatomy.

News: Oregon, Bhutto, Newark, Rio Ferdinand, J. Brotherlove

· Pending a February review, a federal judge places a hold on the Oregon domestic partnership law that was set to take effect January 1. "After the Legislature approved the domestic partnership law this year, gay rights opponents launched an effort to collect enough signatures to suspend the law and place it on the November 2008 ballot...But state elections officials said this fall that the effort fell 116 valid signatures short of the 55,179 needed to suspend the law."

· The Star-Ledger profiles the "surprising" and thriving black gay "ballroom" subculture of Newark, New Jersey, "a city with no openly gay nightlife, where the 4-year-old murder of 15-year-old lesbian Sakia Gunn, killed for rejecting a man's advances, is still invoked as a symbol of intolerance. The houses, which have a combined membership of more than 100, are now touted by politicians as a significant force in the fight against AIDS and discrimination."

· As the Pakistani government repeatedly changes the circumstances surrounding the Benazir Bhutto ssassination, a potential heir emerges: Bilawal Zardari, the 19-year-old son of the slain former prime minister. The Oxford student is expected to be a figurehead and his father, controversial Asif Ali Zardari, would "take immediate charge of the party on the understanding that he will step aside [when] his son is ready to take up his mother's political mantle."

· After twice vetoing attempts to expand the program, President George W. Bush finally ends his war against low-income children and signs "legislation that extends a popular children’s health insurance program."

· British authorities investigate the Christmas party organized by Manchester United star footballer Rio Ferdinand, described as "an unmitigated disaster, not least for the 26-year-old woman who claims that she was raped. Ferdinand reportedly collected £4,000 from each of his United team-mates to fund an afternoon and evening of wine, women, wagering and song...The man from south-east London is not, by all accounts, the brightest bulb in the chandelier. But even he must now realise that."

· Blackberry will develop an "angular keyboard where the keys are set at a 45-degree angle."

· Barack Obama ramps up efforts to court LGBT voters in California.

· Beginning January 1st, Democratic hopeful John Edwards "will campaign for 36 hours straight leading up to the Iowa caucuses on January 3rd. Meanwhile, North Carolina's largest LGBT newspaper, Q-Notes, will publish a hearty endorsement for the state's favorite son next week, citing "his concrete, progressive policy positions, including steadfast support for pro-LGBT issues, his commitment to returning power to the people from moneyed special interests, his outstanding polling strength against the Republicans and his positive impact for down-ticket candidates nationwide."

· Wyatt O’Brien Evans at KuttinEdge profiles Atlanta-based J. Brotherlove, described as "one of the pioneers" of the black gay virtual community. "Does he consider himself a leader in the Black gay community? 'I’m not confident calling myself that. Others can decide for themselves,' he answered. 'However, I take my role ... very seriously, and, know that I positively affect others. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.' "

Huckabee Strategist Ed Rollins Boasted "Paying Off" Black Clergy to Win 1992 New Jersey Election

Ed Rollins, the campaign manager and chairman hired by the Mike Huckabee campaign, has a very interesting pedigree. Aside from his best-known accomplishment—managing Reagan's 1984 landslide re-election against Walter Mondale—the avuncular conservative has a colorful and revisionist history in the racial politics of New Jersey.

This 1993 report from The New York Times has all the details. As the campaign manager of Christine Todd Whitman's successful 1992 election as the governor of New Jersey, the former Reagan operative boasted that he "made payments to suppress the urban and mostly black vote" and told reporters "the campaign had paid black ministers and Democratic Party workers in exchange for promises not to rally votes for [former Gov. James] Florio, financing the effort with $500,000 in what he called "walking-around money" from the Republican State Committee." This certainly wouldn't be the first time black pastors were paid off by the Republican Party.

Rolins later said his claims were an "exaggeration."

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