Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Calls For Inquiry Into Death Of Gay Sailor August Provost

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) is calling for a deeper investigation into the death of Houston-born gay sailor August Provost, who was found murdered in his Camp Pendleton guard shack outside of San Diego two weeks ago.

“I am requesting a full investigation into the murder,” Jackson Lee said Sunday. “This death appears bizarre, and more facts need to be uncovered.” Navy officials said earlier this month that they had linked another sailor to the crime through physical evidence and his own statement. The sailor was taken into custody and was cooperating with the investigation, said Capt. Matt Brown, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest in San Diego, Calif.

“There is no information that suggests this is a hate crime, but we will address any possible motivation as part of the investigation as we continue to thoroughly examine the many leads and facts in this case,” Brown said earlier this month. Jackson Lee stood with Provost's parents on Sunday to call for a deeper investigation. “I'm asking for a system-wide investigation, to see whether these acts are being tolerated in our military,” Jackson Lee said. “I'm appalled and outraged at the lack of facts that have been given to this family.” Provost's mother, Melanie Provost, said Sunday the military originally told her simply that her son had been found unconscious in the guard shack and later died. “The only way I found out my son had been shot and burned was on TV,” she said.

The Congresswoman and the sailor's family believe that DADT made have had a hand in Provost's reluctance to come forward about the anti-gay harassment he'd been suffering at the hands of other soldiers.