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From the San Diego Union Tribune‘s Sailor charged in Camp Pendleton shooting death of seaman:
Navy officials said Thursday that they have charged a sailor with murder in the June 30 shooting death of Seaman August Provost at Camp Pendleton.Provost, 29, was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds about 3:30 a.m.at his guard post on the North County base. Naval officials have previously said that someone tried to light a fire at the guard shack, but did not confirm whether Provost was burned.
Navy officials said more information will be released at a news conference at 4 p.m. Thursday.
…Relatives of Provost, who was gay, said he had told them he had been harassed. Naval officials have said that they have no evidence that the death was a hate crime…
We’ll add more as more details become available.
Updates:
From the Los Angeles Times
…But the Navy said there is no indication that the murder was a hate crime based on the fact that the victim, Seaman August Provost of Houston, was gay.Officials said Provost, 29, was standing guard when Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Campos of Lancaster allegedly attempted to enter the base to commit violence. He was facing discipline for a drunk driving arrest in Imperial Beach.
Campos now faces charges including arson, burglary of a San Diego home, stealing military property, drug possession and attempting to hire a civilian to kill another sailor.
Navy officials said that although Provost and Campos were in the same command at Camp Pendleton, there is no indication that the two knew each other or that Campos targeted Provost for death…
From the Navy Compass:
…Charges preferred today include alleged violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military’s governing law code, over a period from May 1 to July 1 including: murder of Boatswain’s Mate Seaman August Provost III by shooting him with a pistol; use of illegal psilocybin mushrooms; breaking and entering into a private residence, and stealing electronic equipment, jewelry and a .45 caliber pistol; driving under the influence of alcohol; attempt to commit arson; wrongful possession of firearms; unlawful entry; unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon; stealing military property; arson; unlawful handling of a deceased individual; solicitation of a civilian to murder another Navy sailor, a Master at Arms assigned to ACU FIVE and to vandalize the sailor’s house; and unauthorized absence.“While the full extent of Campos’ alleged behavior from early May through June 20 was not known to his superiors, the Commanding Officer had been notified of a June 20 DUI offense in Imperial Beach. This event was scheduled for a review by Campos’ chain of command at ACU FIVE the week of June 29 and could have resulted in both administrative and punitive actions against Campos. Before the command took any action however, Campos allegedly set out to commit an act of material property damage against the command by setting fire to one of the Landing Craft Air Cushion, or LCAC’s, the night of June 29,” according to Brown.
“While allegedly attempting to gain access to the ACU FIVE compound Campos encountered Seaman Provost at the sentry station at which point Campos allegedly shot him multiple times. In an apparent effort to conceal evidence after Seaman Provost was shot, Campos allegedly took the sentry’s firearm, and then set fire to the guard shack,” continued Brown. He also noted that the physical evidence collected to date combined with witness statements support this sequent of events.
When asked about possible hate crime allegations or ties to gang activity in the area Brown noted that no information has been gathered to date to support allegations of a hate crime, nor have there been any ties to special circumstances for either gang or terrorist activity…
H/t: Law Dork
7 Comments
I must admit this happened faster than I predicted.I assumed (I know, bad idea) that this would just kept swept under the rug. I’m curious to know what’s up.
Thanks for the info; I’ll stay tuned.
OMG, the so-called ‘investigation’ is laughableOK, so now we are supposed to believe that the murderer just wandered randomly onto a highly secure military base and randomly murdered Provost because he had taken some magic mushrooms. Give me a break.
Is it so implausible ….that a man who happens to be gay and is murdered, and is not done so because he was gay, but as it may turn out doing his duty as a guard ?
This is, clarlify could be, what can happen when the collective “we” jump to conclusions when someone of the LGBT community is killed and “we” come to the auto-conclusion it must be because of his/her gender.
This is the reason I haven’t commented on my blogs on this story nor the one about Bryce Faulkner.
There are too many shades of gray in both incidents to clearly come to black and white conclusions.
Clearing up typo …wrote, his/her gender. Should have written his/her sexual identity.
Not as much unbelievable as implausable….The implication here is that this Sailor was on a rather random crime rampage without motivation. But he just happens to serve under the same command as the only sailor he killed. But there is no evidence they knew each other? And it wasn’t like Provost was guarding the front gate of the base. He was on such an isolated post that they didn’t find his body for 3 hours. I know the list of crimes might seem outrageously long and distracting but to offer no motive?! Seems a bit like a bait and switch move on the part of the military to me.
I changed my mind, it is unbelievableLooking up variation of the story where reporters emphasize varying facts offers an interesting perspective. This is starting to look more like a dramady of errors on the part of the military to avoid any implications that their might be anything to do with either a hate crime or hidden relationship issues. But it is hard not to believe that the two did not know each other. Even more incredulous is the emphasis on the Sailor doing mushrooms almost an entire month before this murder took place. There is something the military is going through great lengths not to say. The most obvious being an explanation of how this sailor got the drop on Provost who had a pistol. When I was in the military standing guard duty I seem to recall that standing orders meant you challenged everyone approaching your station, Including the officer of the day and your relief! So how does this guy even get close enough to Provost unless they knew each other?
Cover upThe military is more afraid of this being exposed as a hate crime than they are with a soldier’s murder by another soldier. So they make up a story and we are supposed to buy it ‘hook,line and sinker.’ They have to make up the story because it is already out there in the media, and they can’t cover it up like they usually do when soldiers kill each other.
Keep the pressure on people. The truth will continue to come out. Don’t buy it people, this was a hate crime.