July 22, 2009
Boy Accused of Murdering Trans Student Bragged About Guns, 'Nazi' Sympathies
Steve Weinstein READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Brandon McInerney, the junior-high student accused of killing a fellow student, reportedly bragged about having guns at home to kill someone, as well as having a fascination with neo-Nazis.
The Los Angeles Times reported that McInerney bragged to another student at E.O. Green Junior High in exurban L.A.'s Ventura County that he had the guns and would use them if he ever wanted to kill someone. He allegedly made the comment before walking into school and shooting Lawrence King on Feb. 12, 2008.
King, who often dressed as a girl, was taunted by his classmates. As reported on EDGE, other students would call him "faggot." Teachers, according to a student, "knew stuff was going on. I guess they just didn't want to be involved." King came from a troubled family that had been homeless for periods of time.
The same article reported that McInerney himself came from a troubled home as well. Before he was born, his father shot his mother and reportedly abused her. The father, in turn, accused the mother of being a drug abuser. Both filed court orders against each other.
Oxnard, Calif., Police Sgt. Kevin Baysinger told a courtroom trying McInerney, now 15, that he had bragged "if he ever wanted to kill anybody, his dad had a bunch of guns and he had the capability." Others have testified that McInerney was irked by alleged romantic attentions and flirting from King to McInerney--a prelude, some say, to a possible "gay panic" defense.
The Times reports that defense attorney Scott Wippert has cited King's flirtation. At one point, he asked a police officer, "Did you inquire if Larry King was making sexual advances toward McInerney ... you do realize he's charged with first-degree murder? That he was provoked?"
The L.A. Times is also reporting, in a separate article, that McInerney had tried to pal around with local neo-Nazis and had a fascination with the Third Reich. A search of his room revealed copies of Hitler's speeches, a book about storm troopers and a notebook full of musings about Nazis.
His attorney has cited black and Latino friends to counter the assumption that white supremacy played a part in the killing.
Steve Weinstein has been a regular correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the Advocate, the Village Voice and Out. He has been covering the AIDS crisis since the early '80s, when he began his career. He is the author of "The Q Guide to Fire Island" (Alyson, 2007).
