Noel Sheppard, that scamp, is at it again. On top of his using an anti-Semitic image in a NewsBusters post (again), writing another post that required a correction, going on a massive Heathering bender, and using tired headline cliches, the NewsBusters associate editor has now embraced a book attacking Matthew Shepard.
Noel Sheppard writes in a Sept. 24 NewsBusters post:
The 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard is considered one of the nation’s most notorious hate crimes.
Yet when a new book comes out by a gay author contending that Shepard was not killed because of his sexual orientation, America’s media appear disinterested in reporting the new revelations.“The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard” author Steve Jimenez sat down with NewsMax TV’s Steve Malzberg Monday to discuss his book and his findings.
As we noted when WorldNetDaily’s Joseph Farah embraced this revisionism, Sheppard won’t tell you that Jimemez worked on a 2004 ABC 20/20 segment that made many of the same claims as his book, so they’re not all that “new.” Further, Jimenez’s key salacious claim — that one of Shepard’s killers, Aaron McKinney, had previously had sex with Shepard — is undermined by the fact that McKinney denies it, as well as the fact that McKinney tried to mount a “gay panic” defense at his trial.
Sheppard also highlights that “the Advocate, the self-proclaimed “world’s leading source for LGBT news and entertainment,” published a very positive piece about Jimenez’s book,” adding, “So one of the leading sources for LGBT news and entertainment is out front on this story willing to give its readers these new revelations so that they can decide what the truth is.”
Sheppard didn’t mention that the Advocate has also published an article critical of the book, with the author noting:
I find problems with the fact that killer Aaron McKinney, who Jimenez accuses of doing drugs and having sex with Matt prior to the murder, never admits to sleeping with men. If he did indeed have sex with Matt or was bisexual, he can’t bring himself to “admit” it, even now. McKinney either didn’t have sex with Matt or is gripped by internalized homophobia, which is still homophobia. That seems relevant.
Perhaps Sheppard should take his own advice and publish more facts so his readers can decide what the truth is. But then, he’s not exactly known for that, is he?