MILITARY: 'It wasn't a hate crime,' spokesman says

By MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Navy officials are continuing to reject assertions that a sailor gunned down as he stood guard duty on June 30 was targeted because of his sexual orientation.

"It wasn't a hate crime," Navy spokesman Doug Sayers in San Diego said Tuesday of the death of Seaman August Provost III. "There is nothing that leads us to believe that it was."

Family members of the Houston native have suggested Provost was slain because he was homosexual. His mother, Melanie Collins, has said her 29-year-old son was shot five times.

Family members also have said Provost told them that he was being harassed in the days leading up to his death, leading to calls from two members of Congress and gay and lesbian groups for a detailed examination of the circumstances behind the slaying.

Navy officials say there is no record of Provost ever filing any harassment complaints.

Congressional offices that have expressed interest in the case are being provided with continual updates, Sayers said.

Joe Kasper, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, a former Camp Pendleton Marine and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said there has been no suggestion during those briefings that Provost was killed because of his sexual preference.

Sayers said an unidentified sailor arrested in connection with the killing remains in the brig at Camp Pendleton where he is being held for investigation of homicide. Authorities will not release the sailor's name or rank unless charges are filed.

A second person briefly detained at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in northern San Diego was released after authorities determined he had no connection to the killing, he said.

The agency leading the probe, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, does not believe the killing had any sexual motivation, spokesman Ed Buice said Monday.

"There is no evidence pointing to that," Buice said.

Under the military justice system, the unnamed sailor in custody can be held for weeks before charges are brought. If that occurs, a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to prosecute the case will be conducted. No formal arraignment would occur until after such a hearing or if the hearing is waived and the case proceeds to court-martial.

Sayers said the convening authority will be an admiral assigned to Navy Region Southwest in San Diego. The convening authority oversees the case and has a broad range of powers that include approving a plea deal or reducing any sentence rendered in the event of a conviction.

If the case moves ahead, the suspect will be tried at a San Diego Navy base, Sayers said.

Sayers said regardless of what occurs, the Navy intends to be as "transparent as possible."

Provost's commander, Navy Capt. Ed Harrington, has repeatedly been in contact with Provost's family, who came to Camp Pendleton for a private memorial last week, Sayers said. Provost was buried in Houston on Friday.

Provost enlisted in March 2008. He was assigned to a Camp Pendleton hovercraft group, Assault Craft Unit Five.

Authorities believe Provost's killer also set the guard station ablaze in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.

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