N.C. Rep. Foxx calls hate-crime case a ‘hoax’

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 a 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.