AKA William

A Navy spokesman has released a statement about the murder of August Provost, the gay sailor whose burned and shot body was found on Camp Pendleton, the San Diego military base. From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

“There is no evidence or information that suggests this is a hate crime” against Seaman August Provost of Houston, said Capt. Matt Brown, director of public affairs for Navy Region Southwest.

He also said the military can’t yet confirm whether Provost was harassed in the days leading up to his death.

Gay activists — from the nation’s largest gay-rights organization to Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of the San Diego Human Relations Commission — have urged the military to conduct a full and transparent investigation. So have two San Diego members of Congress, Reps. Bob Filner and Susan Davis.

. . . The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has released the first person it held in connection with Provost’s death, which is being investigated as a potential homicide.

The NCIS has taken another “person of interest” into custody. Authorities believe that individual is linked to the slaying based on physical evidence and statements he gave to investigators, Brown said.

The man also is a sailor, but it’s unclear whether he served with Provost in the same unit.

Murray-Ramirez said he still has concerns about a possible hate crime. “We all don’t have the facts,” he said. “We’re going to wait until the full investigation is done, and I’m sure that the members of Congress are wanting that, too.” But he added that the military “seems to be responding to our concerns.”

Recall from yesterday that Provost’s family said that August had been harassed recently.

And the HRC has issued a statement:

The Human Rights Campaign has confirmed Congresswoman Susan Davis has been in touch with officials at the base and is tracking the investigation. We know that every day members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are targeted for simply being who they are. Furthermore, our gay or lesbian soldiers struggle with the extra burden of not serving openly and honestly based on the discriminatory policy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ As we monitor the investigation, our community must continue to raise awareness on a law that we know hurts military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers at risk