Back in 1985, Robert Van Hook, pictured left, strangled and stabbed 25-year-old David Self to death in Cincinnati, before stealing some of his belongings and fleeing. He is currently scheduled to be executed on July 18.
Van Hook is now attempting to claim “gay panic” as a defense for his actions in order to save his life.
Prosecutors call the ploy “nonsense,” pointing out it fit into a well established pattern of behavior.
“This is a man who had cynically manipulated homosexuals for years. He posed as a gay [man]; he frequented bars that were gay and he preyed on vulnerable victims who were gay,” the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office said in a filing with the board.
Van Hook’s attorneys say their client was suffering from the effects of abuse he experienced as a child They add he was “troubled by increasing questions about his own sexual identity.”
Currently, two states have laws banning gay or trans panic defenses: Illinois and California.
Last month, James Miller of Texas, successfully used the strategy to avoid a prison.
Miller said he stabbed his neighbor, Daniel Spencer, after he had tried to kiss him.
Miller was sentenced to only ten years probation after being found guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
27-year-old Me’Shach Israel-Miller was arrested last night at his southeast Columbus home & charged with Inducing Panic & Aggravated Manacing.
On Thursday, March 1, 2018, CPD became aware that there had been a threat made on the social metworking app Grindr that was directed towards the LGBTQ community.
The suspect told another user he was going to kill him and “85 faggots at a gay club.”
The victim posted screenshots of the threat on Facebook causing it to go viral.
CPD began investigating the threat immediately.
Sgt. Nick Konves, CPD’s LGBT Diversity/Inclusion Liaison, says he will be reaching out to the prosecutor’s office to look at the filing of the Columbus hate crime statue.
“The LGBT community asked that I express their appreciation for the extra resources from Zones 4 & 5 that were placed in the Short North this weekend due to the threat,” said Sgt. Konves.
Glad to see the police respond so thoroughly. In the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, threats like this are not acceptable.
Schools in the Jackson Local School District in Stark County are on lockdown after a seventh grade student shot himself on a middle school campus.
Just before 8 a.m., a student shot himself in the men’s restroom at Jackson Memorial Middle School, according to Jackson Township Police. The school is about 55 miles south of Cleveland.
Police say the boy was transported to a nearby hospital. His condition is not known at this time.
Police have not said if the shooting is accidental or intentional, but they are calling it self-inflicted.
All other students and faculty members were no injured.
In the aftermath of disgraced Ohio state Rep. Wes Goodman resignation last week over an “inappropriate” incident in his Ohio office with another man, more revelations have emerged about Goodman’s apparent double life as a closeted gay man.
In public, Wesley Goodman was an up-and-coming conservative who championed pro-family and anti-LGBT causes and aspired to someday run for Congress.
In private, he exchanged salacious texts and emails with gay men he met on Capitol Hill, and sent sexually suggestive messages to young men he met through conservative circles who were too intimidated to publicly complain, according to three people who knew him when he worked in Washington.
Goodman’s double life ended this week when he resigned from the Ohio legislature after House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger was alerted to Goodman’s involvement in “inappropriate behavior” with a man in his state office in Columbus.
[snip]
Johnny Hadlock, then a staffer for another GOP congressman in Washington, said he met Goodman in 2010. Hadlock said he confided in Goodman that he was a closeted gay man and the two began exchanging text messages.
In an interview with cleveland.com, Hadlock described the messages as sexting and gay banter, and said he engaged in phone sex with Goodman.
“Wes never sexually harassed me — we both knew what we were doing and we were both fine doing it,” Hadlock said.
[snip]
Another conservative with Ohio ties told cleveland.com that Goodman engaged in predatory behavior toward younger men after leaving Jordan’s office, sending inappropriate material and propositioning them via text message and Facebook messenger.
The conservative operative said he’d target college kids who wanted to have him as a mentor and were scared to report his sexual advances because they didn’t want to damage their own careers.
[snip]
Another former GOP congressional staffer, Chris Donnelly, told cleveland.com that Goodman replied to a Craigslist post on a board for men seeking men, and the two had a sexual encounter in 2008. In a response shown to cleveland.com, an email account using the name Brady Murphey described himself as a “straight/curious” guy who needed to be discreet.
“Maybe we can hang and see what’s up, no expectations really,” the response said. “But your post seemed cool so let me know bro.”
Donnelly said Goodman was “all over Craigslist” and responded to several ads posted by Donnelly and other gay men.
“It became a running joke between me and my gay friends on Capitol Hill,” Donnelly said. “It’s not like it was some one-off thing.”
The Washington Postpublished a story on Friday that alleged two years ago, at an event headed up by anti-LGBT hate group leader Tony Perkins, Goodman invited an 18 year old to “crash” in his hotel room. When the teen woke up his pants were unbuttoned and Goodman was pulling his zipper down. Perkins apparently helped cover up the incident.
There’s really only one scenario where I think it’s appropriate to out someone and this is it. When a politician spends his career pushing anti-LGBT policies while privately getting a little something something on the side, that’s when it’s time to call folks out.
I feel for Goodman’s family and friends but this is truly the bed he made.
Journalist Caleb Hull says Goodman practically begged him to have sex with Goodman and/or his wife. Check out screen captures of messages this “family values” guy sent:
Ohio State Rep. Wes Goodman (R-Cardington), who consistently touted his faith and conservative values, has abruptly resigned after being confronted with evidence of inappropriate conduct with another man inside his office.
House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, met Tuesday afternoon with the Cardington Republican soon after the speaker became aware of an incident from weeks ago in the lawmaker’s office that, sources said, involved a male in a consensual situation.
No harassment complaint, sexual or otherwise, was filed against Goodman. But someone, reportedly not a staffer, who knew of or witnessed the incident informed House Chief of Staff Mike Dittoe of the situation early Tuesday afternoon.
“I was alerted to details yesterday afternoon regarding his involvement in inappropriate behavior related to his state office,” Rosenberger said in a statement on Wednesday. “I met with him later in the day where he acknowledged and confirmed the allegations. It became clear that his resignation was the most appropriate course of action for him, his family, the constituents of the 87th House District and this institution.”
The speaker’s office is not releasing additional details of the conduct, though Brad Miller, spokesman for Rosenberger, said it did not involve Statehouse staffers or other legislative members. Rumors about Goodman’s questionable conduct, including his use of social media, have been swirling at the Statehouse in the past few weeks and include stories dating back years to when he worked in Washington. His Facebook account was taken offline.
Rosenberger and Goodman agreed, Miller said, “that it was activity unbecoming of a state representative.”
Goodman, 33, who says on his campaign web site that “healthy, vibrant, thriving, values-driven families are the source of Ohio’s proud history,” expressed regret for his actions.
“We all bring our own struggles and our own trials into public life. That has been true for me, and I sincerely regret that my actions and choices have kept me from serving my constituents and our state in a way that reflects the best ideals of public service,” he said in a statement. “For those whom I have let down, I’m sorry. As I move onto the next chapter of my life, I sincerely ask for privacy for myself, my family, and my friends.”
Goodman’s entire career in politics has been predicated on his uber-conservative positions on “natural marriage” and “pro-family” issues.
As I’ve said in the past: Ye who protesteth the loudest do it the mosteth!
A new poll from the Baldwin Wallace Community Research Institute shows Hillary Clinton has pulled out to a 9 point lead over billionaire Donald Trump in the vital swing state of Ohio.
Democrat Hillary Clinton has a 9-point lead over Republican Donald Trump in Ohio following the news of Trump’s vulgar talk about women and after the second debate between the candidates, according to a statewide poll released today by Baldwin Wallace University in Berea.
Clinton leads Trump, 48 percent to 38 percent, with 14 percent unsure, in a direct match-up, the poll found. When the two minority party candidates are added to the mix – as they are on state ballots — Clinton leads by 9 percent, 43 percent to 34 percent.
It’s notable that the survey included 1,152 likely voters. That’s a substantial number for a state-wide poll.
Plus, this was taken after the second debate through to Tuesday evening. So the debate and Trump’s “PussyGate” video are baked into these results.
The survey also showed that 63% of Trump voters are primarily casting a vote against Clinton, not for him.
Among Clinton supporters only 47% say they are casting a vote against Trump.
Among Independent voters, 46% say they are voting Clinton; 35% say they plan to vote Trump.
After calling the Black Lives Matter movement “a stupid waste of time,” and saying low voter turnout on behalf of African-Americans is indicative of “the way they’re raised,” Donald Trump’s Ohio campaign chair, Kathy Miller, has resigned.
Oh, did I mention she told the Guardian, “I don’t think there was any racism until Obama got elected?”
Seriously.
Kathy Miller, who is white and chair of the Republican nominee’s campaign in Mahoning County, made the remarks during a taped interview with the Guardian’s Anywhere but Washington series of election videos.
“If you’re black and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years, it’s your own fault. You’ve had every opportunity, it was given to you,” she said.
“You’ve had the same schools everybody else went to. You had benefits to go to college that white kids didn’t have. You had all the advantages and didn’t take advantage of it. It’s not our fault, certainly.”
In Ohio, which is so critical to Donald Trump’s electoral fortunes, it is Hillary Clinton who has extended her lead and is now up six points, 46 percent to 40 percent; she was up four points in July. Clinton has made gains among women, and remains bolstered by a nearly-unified Democratic base. She wins 90 percent of Democrats, while Trump remains hampered by just enough reluctant Republicans: He’s at 79 percent of GOPers.
The latest from NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls show former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leading in Florida, Illinois and Ohio ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primaries.
The only surprise here for me is I thought Ohio would be the closer race, but it’s looking like Illinois may be Bernie Sanders’ better hope for a win on Tuesday.
Of course, after last Tuesday’s surprise win by Bernie in Michigan, I’m not completely trusting any poll.
I should note there wasn’t an NBC News poll done for North Carolina which is also holding that state’s primary on Tuesday. However, Hillary Clinton leads in NC by an average of 20 points according to Real Clear Politics poll averages.
