Tag: Congress

Local Coverage of Vigil for Ryan Skipper in Winter Haven

Jon Ponder

Family at the Vigil: Ryan Skipper’s stepfather, Lynn Mulder (left), his mother, Patricia Mulder, and brother, Damien Skipper. Photo courtesy of Karl von Hahmann

The Ledger

To my pleasant surprise, the Lakeland Ledger covered the vigil for Ryan Skipper in Winter Haven yesterday. The newspaper had failed to cover preparations for the vigil until the morning of the event, and buried the announcement on its website by not linking to it from the homepage. But today’s story appeared on the homepage, with a photo.

The coverage was fine, except for this bit, which was a lost opportunity to set the record straight:

Damien Skipper said the lack of media coverage since his brother’s murder could be because of the account first released by authorities – that on the night he was killed, his brother was cruising for sex and picked up Bearden.

He feels that reinforcing such negative stereotypes marginalized the crime.

On March 17, the Ledger published a version of events leading up to the murder that it attributed to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. According to the sheriff, Skipper was seeking anonymous sex, picked up a stranger and took him home, where they smoked pot and conspired to forge checks.

What the sheriff failed to note was that this version of events came from a very suspicious source: the accused killers. The suspects’ negative spin was unwittingly reported in the local media, including the Ledger — where it was picked up by newspapers across the country. The misinformation about Ryan appeared to dampen interest in the story, however, especially in the mainstream press. Now there are strong indications that none of the allegations against Ryan are true.

On Friday, a sheriff’s department spokesperson acknowledged that Sheriff Judd was wrong when he claimed Skipper was involved in a check-forging scheme with the alleged murderers. The sheriff’s office has also admitted that Judd’s version of events was based largely on statements by the accused.

In an email to a reader earlier this month, Ledger managing editor Lenore Devore promised, “Everything we printed that you dispute has come from the Sheriff’s Office. If they change what they think happened at some point, we’ll report on that. But for now, that’s its official report.”

Today’s story would have been a good place to note that the sheriff’s “official report” had changed, and that Ryan didn’t pick up a stranger, take him home and conspire to forge checks with him.

Winter Have News Chief/Polkonline.com

The Winter Haven News Chief covered the story, with links and a photo on its homepage at polkonline.com:

Damien Skipper, brother to Ryan Skipper, read statements the [Equality Florida] and family have received from state Rep. Marty Bowen, Polk County Commissioner Bob English and Winter Haven Police Chief Mark LeVine. County Commissioner Jean Reed made a quick statement at the vigil.

“But we haven’t heard back from (U.S. Rep.) Adam Putnam or (Gov.) Charlie Christ,” Damien Skipper told the crowd.

Both Rep. Putnam and Gov. Crist are Republicans. (During his campaign for governor last year, Crist, who is in his 40s and unmarried, faced rumors he is gay.)

Rev. Phyllis Hunt from the Metropolitan Community Church in Tampa noted that one group in particular was under-represented at the vigil:

“It’s sad this park is not packed with ministers,” she said. “No one stepped up and said, ‘This is not OK.’ I believe as a person of faith it impacts us spiritually.”

Amen.

Vigils Today for Ryan Skipper in Florida and Washington, D.C.

Jon Ponder

Source: Equality Florida

Winter Haven
1:00 PM
Central Park
Central Ave at 4th and 5th Streets, Winter Haven
Russell Patterson, 813-849-3919, russ@eqfl.org

Daytona Beach (CHANGED LOCATION)
7:00 PM
Home Metropolitan Church
Back Parking Lot
500 South Ridgewood Ave
Daytona Beach, FL 32118
David Perreault, 386-453-3089, david.perreault@earthlink.net

Tampa
7:00 PM
USF
Dream Pool, MLK Jr. Memorial Fountain
by the Student Union
Tamara Wasserman 941-626-2164, wasserman2001@yahoo.com

Jacksonville
1:00 PM
UU Church of Jacksonville,
7405 Arlington Expressway, Jacksonville, FL
32211uujax@bellsouth.net, churchoffice@uujax.org (904) 725-8133

Clearwater
7:00 PM
On the shores of Peace Pond, Unity Church of Clearwater
2465 Nursery Road (on the south side of Nursery, between Belcher and US 19)
Leddy Hammock, Minister, Unity Church of Clearwater, 727 531 0992
leddy@unityofclearwater.org

Pensacola
1:00 PM
Holy Cross Metropolitan Community Church
3130 W Fairfield Dr, Pensacola, 32505
Rev Sandy O’Steen, revsandy@holycrossmcc.com
(850) 469-9090 www.holycrossmcc.com

West Palm Beach Area
Downtown Lake Worth
6:30 PM
Gather at Town Hall
Dixie and Lake Ave
Three block vigil walk to park in center of Down Town
Allan Hendricks, 561.541.3700, eqflpbc@yahoo.com

Fort Lauderdale
1:00 PM
Gay and Lesbian Community Center
1717 N. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
Rev. Frank Faine, frank@sunshinecathedral.org

Port Richey
Saturday, April 14th – 11:00 PM
Waterside Landing
www.watersidelanding.com
7737 Grand Blvd
Port Richey, FL 34668
(727) 841-7900

Tallahassee
10:00 AM
Front steps of the old State Capitol Building
Jim Van Riper Alain Raymond, alain@eqfl.org , 904-807-5928

Ocala
8:00 PM
Downtown Square, Ocala
Robert W. Poth III, homes@robpoth.com, 352-697-2522

Key West
7:00 PM
Steps of the Old Custom House
Base of White Head Street, Key West
Sponsored by GLCC of Key West and NOW
John Andola, jandola@hotmail.com, 305-849-0379

Miami
1:00 PM
Pridelines Youth Services, 180 NE 19th St, Miami
At he corner of NE 19th St and 2nd Ave
Tobias Packer, tobias@eqfl.org, 305-924-6237

Washington, DC
6:30 PM
Dupont Circle Park
Lara Martin, lsm4u1982@hotmail.com

Reports Today on Ryan Skipper Vigils in Tampa Trib and Ledger (Sort of)

Jon Ponder

Better late than never: The Tampa Tribune reported on the hate crime vigils in memory of hate-crime murder victim Ryan Skipper set for today. A link to the article is prominently featured on the newpaper’s homepage.

The Lakeland Ledger also has posted an article about the vigils, but it is not linked from the paper’s homepage, and can only be found via the site’s search function.

The list of local newspapers that have covered the vigils now looks like this:

  • Lakeland Ledger: Yes
  • Winter Haven News Chief: Yes
  • Orlando Sentinel: Yes.
  • Tampa Tribune: Yes

Sheriff Backs Off Check Forging Allegation against Hate-Crime Victim Ryan Skipper

Jon Ponder

In an article published today — just one day shy of a month since Ryan Skipper was murdered — Donna Wood, a spokesperson for Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, tells Express Gay News that initial statements implying that Skipper was involved in illegal activities with his alleged killers were wrong:

Despite its earlier assertions, the sheriff’s office now acknowledges there is no evidence Skipper was involved in a check forging scheme with the two suspects.

“There is no indication that Ryan Skipper was involved in any illegal activity…” Wood also said that the two suspects “gave conflicting stories about time and events.”

The sheriff’s office also acknowledged for the first time that the scenario of events leading up to the murder as laid out by Sheriff Judd for the media on March 16 or 17 was based entirely on the self-serving statements of the alleged killers:

In some media accounts, it sounded as if Skipper was involved in check forgery with [accused killers William] Brown and [Joe] Bearden. But police have since clarified the statement, pointing out that they were just recounting what the suspects had told them. They have not found any evidence that Skipper was involved in any kind of check forging scheme with the two suspects.

The check-copying charge was just one of several allegations Sheriff Judd made about Skipper’s behavior. He also told reporters that Skipper picked up Joe Bearden, a stranger, and took him back to his house where they smoked pot and then conspired to forge checks. In media reports, the sheriff did not acknowledge that this version of events was based on the alleged killer’s statements. No one in the local media questioned him about the sourcing, apparently.

[…]

Remembering Ryan Skipper One Month After His Murder

Trish

Vigils will be held around the state of Florida and in Washington tomorrow to remember Ryan Keith Skipper.

Ryan was brutally murdered one month ago — stabbed 20 times, his body tossed on the side of the road. In life, Ryan was an open, fun, caring young man with enough energy to manage a retail store full-time while pursuing a degree in computer technology and fixing computers for his many, many friends on the side.

He was also gay. And this last fact is likely the reason Ryan was killed.

The vigils are not, as their organizers remind us, a time to protest. They are instead a time to honor Ryan’s life, which his friends and family are determined to remember for more than its end. I recently talked to Ryan’s brother, Damien Skipper, to find out what the handsome and friendly 25-year-old was like.

The vigils are a time to honor Ryan’s life, which his friends and family are determined to remember for more than its end

“We grew up between Auburndale and Winter Haven. We were both born in Winter Haven Hospital…and we lived in Polk County our whole lives until I went away to college.

Ryan stayed in Polk County and he’s gone to school. He went to Polk Community [College] for awhile and basically he’s carried a job since he graduated from high school. All of his friends are there and I tried a few to get him to move out of Polk County, just because of — not that I ever conceived or could conceive something like this happening — but I just told him that I thought it would be nicer if he lived in a metro area.

Ryan was a handsome and intelligent young man and he’s incredibly honest and he is a true friend to anyone who knew him and I’ll stick with the cliche that everyone has been saying, which is that if you knew Ryan you loved him. He was just that type of person. I don’t think there’s anything in his past that anyone would ever be ashamed of. Ryan, just like all of us, was imperfect. That doesn’t mean anything negative, it just means that we can all strive for perfection but none of us will reach it.

And so I remember Ryan as…I said this at his eulogy. I remember going to the hospital with my father and seeing Ryan and just knowing from that day that he’s my little brother. I’m his big brother and it’s my duty to kind of show him the ropes and protect him and just, you know, make sure that he lived a great life. And he did.

And it’s unfortunate that someone decided they could take that away from us, take that away from him.

Two men were arrested for Ryan’s murder, which is being investigated as a hate crime. They are jailed without bond, and will be until their trials.

Tomorrow we will remember Ryan, a brother and son, friend and student and coworker, who was taken from us. If we protest tomorrow, let it be against hate and intolerance, violence and ignorance, savagery and loss.

Winter Haven News Chief Announces Ryan Skipper Vigil at Polkonline.com

Jon Ponder

We’re updating our list of local papers that have reported online on the upcoming vigil for hate crime victim Ryan Skipper:

The Lakeland Ledger continues to ignore or be unaware of the upcoming vigils.

As you can see, we added the Tampa Tribune to the list. A concerned citizen contacted a reporter at the Tribune to ask why the paper had not covered the vigil. According to the caller, the reporter said he hadn’t heard about the vigil. Perhaps the news release from Equality Florida was misdirected to the wrong department.

Update: A source close to the organization of the vigil locally says the Tribune plans to cover it.

We also updated the list to show that News Chief, one of the two news services based in Polk County, has covered the details of Saturday’s events via its website, polkonline.com:

Statewide vigils are scheduled for Saturday to honor 25-year-old Ryan Skipper, whose body was found near Wahneta early on March 14…

Equality Florida, an organization dedicated to securing equality and justice for the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, will assist with vigil plans, in Polk County, around the state and possibly in other parts of the nation Saturday to mourn Skipper’s death…

The Polk County vigil will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday in Winter Haven at Central Park, located on Central Avenue at Fourth and Fifth streets. For details, call 813-849-3919 or russ@eqfl.org.

The Lakeland Ledger continues to ignore or be unaware of the upcoming vigils. (I’m planning a separate article on this later.)

Local Coverage of the Lack of Local Coverage

Our coverage of the local media’s lack of coverage of the murder of Ryan Skipper has been noticed by a writer at Lakelandlocal.com:

[Posts] at the Pensito Review are proving a point about local newspapers. The public hasn’t written them off yet. The newspaper is where we expect to find local news. Not 60 Seconds of Local News at Six. We’re looking for The Ledger to cover the CSX story and Pensito Review is asking why the Ledger hasn’t mention the vigils for Ryan Skipper to be held Saturday in 13 Florida cities and Washington, D.C.

H/t thesue2u

Polk County Papers Ignoring Vigils for Ryan Skipper

Jon Ponder

Which local papers have reported online on the upcoming vigil for hate crime victim Ryan Skipper?

Fortunately, most people in the county probably read the Orlando Sentinel:

Equality Florida is planning a day of statewide vigils, including one in Polk County, to draw attention to hate crimes.

The vigils are in response to the death of Ryan Keith Skipper, a 25-year-old Polk County man stabbed to death March 14. His body was dumped alongside a road…

Skipper was gay, according to people who knew him, the Sheriff’s Office said. A witness claimed Brown said Skipper had made advances toward him, and that was the reason for the killing, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said.

Authorities have labeled it a hate crime.

Equality Florida, an advocacy organization, is seeking volunteers to assist or hold a vigil Saturday. If interested, contact Russell Patterson at russ@eq fl.org or 1-813-849-3919.

Boycott Your Church

Trish

Or just expect more from it.

Pensito Review reader Rick left this eloquent and strong comment about why folks like us aren’t doing church anymore:

I stopped going to church after our shameful shock and awe of Iraq. I believe God spoke loudly and clearly February 8th when over 8 million people of conscience poured out into the streets and pleaded that we not do this. This we did, and this we would’ve done even if it would’ve required tanks in the streets of America to enable it.

My faith is not wrapped in a flag. My conscience is not deadened to silently condone torture. And I can’t fellowship with those whose consciences are that dead.

I’m not going to church this Easter, as well as not joining with family, because I don’t silently condone torture nor can I shut up about it. I’m supposed to zip my lip and not offend the morality of other family members who “love my country”. Excuse me. My morality is offended, much more deeply than those offended by my protests could ever fathom because of their shallowness. Abu Grahib was the 9-11 event to our morality. Where is the outrage?

This president is not ashamed or embarrassed to use tortured confessions. This country is not ashamed or embarrassed to use tortured confessions. Need I say more? I don’t suspect there is any questioning of this in the churches of this country. Rather, there is pray for our troops. And just what are our troops doing?

My faith is not wrapped in a flag. My conscience is not deadened to silently condone torture. And I can’t fellowship with those whose consciences are that dead… nor with those who sing happy hymns while being totally oblivious to what we are doing, what we’ve become.

Lakeland Ledger Grabs at a Little Good News in Ryan Skipper Mess

Buck Banks

The Lakeland Ledger ain’t the New York Times. Duh. But the Lakeland Ledger is the local paper doing the bad reporting on the Ryan Skipper murder case, not the Times.

I wonder how many negative letters the Lakeland Ledger has received and whether we’ll ever see any of those in print.

We had an e-mail at Pensito Review the other day from a guy who was trying to call the Ledger to task over its bad reporting. Garry, from Louisiana, was frustrated by what he’d read, so he sent an e-mail to the Ledger expressing his frustration (and quoting from Pensito Review). The Ledger, surprise, responded:

Thank you for your email. Everything we printed that you dispute has come from the Sheriff’s Office. If they change what they think happened at some point, we’ll report on that. But for now, that’s its official report.

Best,
Lenore Devore
Managing Editor
The Ledger
Lakeland, Florida

(from Garry’s e-mail to us)

But not everybody is disappointed in the Ledger’s reportage, and the paper printed a letter to the editor today that congratulates it on its coverage of the murder:

Re: Ryan Skipper, thank you for the nice article about Ryan [“2 Indicted In Slaying Of Polk Man,” March 30, page B1]. He was a great guy and a good friend. I will miss him terribly.

Hopefully, I can one day make it through the entire article, but as of right now I can’t without breaking down in tears. I’ll never understand how anyone can do such a thing. Disliking gays is one thing, but there is no rationale for killing them.

Ryan wasn’t just some random gay guy. He was someone’s friend and some parent’s child. There are no words that could make him less of a human being. But I have to wonder if the same can be said for the young men accused of taking Ryan’s life. Their reason for killing him isn’t justified. If they truly felt uncomfortable around him, they could’ve just walked away.

I read an article, recently, about a man who has to spend the rest of his days looking at a picture of the woman he killed. Maybe these men should face that same reality. Putting them to death wouldn’t inflict nearly the same amount of heartache they’ve put Ryan’s friends through.

They should have to be reminded every day of what they took from us, as long as they draw breath on this Earth. We won’t get a quick exit from our pain, why should they?

TODD A. JOHNSON

Lakeland

I hope Todd at some point is able to read the entire article because I think then he would join the rest of us in our assessment that the Ledger is doing a crappy job of reporting on this case.

Parroting back the homophobic assumptions and allegations offered BY THE GUYS WHO DID THE CRIME that Sheriff Judd has said is not good newspaper reportage. It’s not journalism, and all it does is slander a dead guy who, by most accounts was a good egg, not a bad fellow, and by any account did not deserve to be killed.

And printing a letter from a guy who hasn’t even read the whole article is no mea culpa, nor does it let the Ledger off the hook for screwing up.

It’s pitiful that the Lakeland Ledger, out of desperation, prints the only positive letter it has received about its coverage of the Skipper murder. I wonder how many negative letters it has received and whether we’ll ever see any of those in print.