QUESTION ASKED: Did Biden just promote a fake hate crime?

“Twenty-five years ago today, Matthew Shepard lost his life to a brutal act of hate and violence that shocked our nation and the world,” the White House said . “The week prior, Matthew had been viciously attacked in a horrific anti-gay hate crime and left to die — simply for being himself.”

“Today, as threats and violence targeting the LGBTQI+ community continue to rise, our work is far from finished,” the president continued . “No American should face hate or violence for who they are or who they love. I once again call on Congress to send the Equality Act to my desk so that we can ensure LGBTQI+ Americans have full civil rights protections under our laws — because every American is worthy of dignity, acceptance, and respect.”

There’s just one problem: Matthew Shepard was indeed tragically murdered, but it almost certainly wasn’t because of his sexuality.

Yes, Sheppard’s death was believed to be an anti-gay hate crime at the time it occurred, but extensive reporting and evidence in the many years since has drastically undercut the original understanding of what happened as gaps in the narrative have arisen.

Earlier: The true story of Matthew Shepard: it wasn’t homophobia that killed him. “I’m not going to get into the details, except to note one thing: one of the killers was not a homophobic hater, but was in fact an on-again off-again lover of Matt’s. This is hardly the stuff of a homophobic hate crime; it was a meth-fueled murder spree that was ignited because the perpetrators were trying to steal a cache of the drug from Shepard.”