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Questions remain over gay sailor’s death

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A sailor remained the top suspect in the June 30 murder of a fellow sailor with Assault Craft Unit 5 at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Boatswain’s Mate Seaman August Provost, 29, was shot dead sometime while standing mid-watch duty at his unit’s guard shack at the landing craft unit’s beachfront compound. Navy officials called Provost’s death a homicide but noted that the shooting remained under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Officials have not identified the suspect, who remained at the Camp Pendleton brig following a confinement hearing Wednesday, said Brian O’Rourke, a spokesman for Navy Region-Southwest in San Diego. No charges had been filed as of Thursday, O’Rourke said, adding that it may be several days before that could take place.

A sailor with ACU-5 who went to the small guard shack to relieve Provost found his body about 3:30 a.m. at the post. The gate, easily seen by drivers on southbound Interstate 5, is reached by a two-lane road that swoops over the freeway from Camp Pendleton’s Stuart Mesa Road in the large base’s southwest sector.

Navy officials said they don’t believe the shooting was gang- or terror-related. They also continued to dispute rumors that Provost was killed because he was gay, despite contentions raised by several relatives and gay advocacy groups who claim the sailor had been harassed at the unit because he was open about his homosexuality.

“We’re hearing from special interest groups that there were complaints, but according to the unit, there were no complaints,” O’Rourke said.

Provost, who enlisted in the Navy last year at age 28 from his hometown of Houston, had joined ACU-5 in September. Navy officials have said that Provost was well liked by members of the unit and the command had received no complaints from him about any harassment. “He’s pretty popular, a nice guy. Everybody liked him,” O’Rourke said.

Several members of Provost’s family visited the base and ACU-5’s compound and met with officials before returning to Houston with his body as they prepared for funeral services. Gay rights’ groups planned to hold a candlelight vigil in Provost’s memory Friday outside Camp Pendleton’s main gate.

While Navy officials have denied that the shooting was a hate crime, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., has asked Navy and Marine Corps officials for additional investigations into Provost’s death. Provost “made the selfless and courageous decision to serve his country, regardless of his sexual orientation; he should be treated with honor and respect,” Filner wrote in letters to Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway; Col. Nicholas F. Marano, who is Camp Pendleton’s base commander; and Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.

Filner said he was frustrated with a lack of information from the Navy and the Marine Corps, particularly over the suspicion that Provost’s sexuality might be connected to his death, which would raise questions about consequences of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

“They don’t want that discussion to take place,” he said.