Rep: Use of ‘hoax’ was bad choice

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina congresswoman says she made a poor choice of words when she called the infamous murder of a gay Wyoming student a “hoax” to justify passing hate-crimes bills.

Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx said during debate in the House that the 1998 death of Matthew Shepard shouldn’t be used to justify a hate-crimes bill because it wasn’t a hate crime. Foxx said Shepard was killed during a robbery.

The bill approved Wednesday by the House would expand a federal hate-crimes law to include acts motivated by sexual orientation.

“We know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn’t because he was gay,” Foxx said during debate. “The bill was named for him, the hate-crimes bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”

Foxx later said her comments didn’t convey what she meant to say.

“The term ‘hoax’ was a poor choice of words used in the discussion of the hate-crimes bill,” Foxx said in a statement. “Mr. Shepard’s death was nothing less than a tragedy, and those responsible for his death certainly deserved the punishment they received.”

Foxx said in her statement that she relied on two news reports for her comments about robbery being a motive for the slaying.

“Referencing these media accounts may have been a mistake, but if so, it was a mistake based on what I believed were reliable accounts,” she said.

The killing of the University of Wyoming student became a rallying point for the gay-rights movement. Shepard was tied up, beaten and left for dead on a wooden fence.

Gay-rights supporters were critical of Foxx.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., said Foxx’s comments were “unreal, unbelievable.”

Jim Neal, a one-time candidate for U.S. Senate from North Carolina and who is gay, said Foxx showed ignorance in her comments.