SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Members of the LGBTQ community attended a community meeting hosted by the San Antonio Police Department and the San Antonio Pride organization aimed at addressing speculation about the murder of Jonathan Joss, a voice actor. Joss, an openly gay man who provided the voice for the character of John Redcorn on “King of the Hill,” was murdered in San Antonio on Sunday.
Breitbart Texas visited the crime scene on Dorsey Drive and attended the community meeting in San Antonio on Thursday evening. San Antonio Police Chief William P. McManus addressed the crowd and quickly bore the brunt of criticism from the LGBTQ community. Attendees were angry over a swiftly issued social media post and press release by the San Antonio Police Department declaring the murder of Joss “not a hate crime.”
PRIDE SAN ANTONIO
McManus, who became the Chief of the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) in April 2006, quickly walked back information contained in the press release and social media post. The press release and post were released within a day of the murder. The issue was the first item on the agenda addressed by McManus, who told the crowd, “First thing is the press release, that went out, that went out prematurely, it never should have gone out, saying that we didn’t have any evidence that it was a hate crime.”
McManus told the crowd of slightly more than 100 residents gathered at the community meeting that he could not provide all the details of the ongoing investigation into the murder of Joss. McManus said numerous police calls for service had been made to the Dorsey Drive address long before the murder occurred. McManus added, “Joss made some of the calls and some were made because of him.”
The circumstances surrounding the murder in front of the actor’s home on Dorsey Drive led some in the LGBTQ community to believe the killing should be considered a hate crime. They voiced anger after the premature statements made by the SAPD. According to police, Joss was found dead near the roadway of his home on Sunday, where they responded and attempted life-saving measures that proved ineffective. Joss was allegedly killed by a neighbor who was later arrested near the scene.
According to police, a witness drove Joss to his home on Sunday, which had burned to the ground earlier this year. Joss continued to collect mail at the address since the date of the fire. After arriving at the property, police say a neighbor, Sigfredo Ceja, drove up to the car Joss was riding in and began to engage in a verbal confrontation. The witness told police she heard Ceja tell Joss he had a gun and would shoot.
After arriving at the scene, Ceja was arrested on suspicion of murder. The police say Ceja had a rifle at the time of the murder. In a social media post by Tristan Kern de Gonzales, the husband of Joss, he says he was present during the murder and that Joss died in his arms. According to Gonzales, both had been harassed by the person who allegedly shot Joss because of their sexual orientation and relationship.
In a post shortly before the joint community meeting, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, who did not attend, posted a short statement on Facebook criticizing the police investigation, saying:
My husband Jonathan Joss was murdered in a hate crime. He spent years asking for help, reporting threats, begging for protection. The police ignored him. Now they want to act like they care about queer lives and Indigenous lives. They don’t. This is not justice. This is a performance.
The attendees at Thursday’s meeting were not letting McManus off the hook. Many questioned the chief about police response to the prior calls related to Joss and others involving LGBTQ harassment. McManus provided the crowd with phone numbers to his office and the SAPD internal affairs office. McManus promised to improve relations between his department and the LGBTQ community.
The quarrel involving Joss and his alleged murderer has been complicated by years of reports and complaints by neighbors of erratic behavior by Joss in the community. On the day of the murder, a neighbor captured a video of Joss pacing the community, shouting as he waved a pitchfork. The video obtained by KSAT 12 news and presented in a subsequent report clearly shows an agitated Joss carrying the pitchfork on the street on the day of the murder, according to the witness.
In another local news report by mysanantonio.com, other neighbors described irrational behavior by the voice actor preceding the murder. One neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, told mysanantonio.com Joss would “always do erratic things in the street,” and claimed, “he was God.” The neighbors allege that they called the police regarding his behavior, but did not receive a response.
The crowd of attendees, although harshly critical of McManus and his department, remained respectful during the meeting. During several question-and-answer volleys, some, however, became heated, with one attendee heckling McManus as he left the stage.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
Read the full article here