Savannah killing highlights safety concerns for the city’s LGBTQ community

Chris Allen Villegas Fentress was a volunteer for the Savannah Pride Center before his murder on March Credit Savannah Pride CenterThe fallout from a fatal March shooting of a gay man in Savannah has certain members of the city s LGBTQ population questioning the city s commitment to keeping it safe -year-old Chris Allen Villegas Fentress was fatally shot two days before St Patrick s Day Michael Bell of the Savannah Pride Center explained the killing should be investigated as a hate crime When the shooter has a history of anti-gay messages that they ve posted on their social media when the victim is visibly identifiably part of our society and anti-gay slurs were thrown absolutely it s time for an review Bell declared But the Savannah Police Department commented there s no evidence the killing meets that criteria In fact the agency hasn t shared any hate crimes in the city since a statistic that Bell and others find hard to believe In response to an open records request the agency provided GPB with a one-sentence statement on the crime acknowledging that it responded to the crime Communication on the occurrence also has been minimal between the Savannah Police Department and the city s LGBTQ society according to Bell I haven t heard from the police at all he explained when he spoke to GPB in late March No one has spoken to us Savannah s LGBTQ police liaison responded to Bell s complaints about poor district relations in an April document in The Current In the meantime the Savannah Pride Center held a vigil for Fentress Johnathan Manson was charged with his murder The post Savannah killing highlights safety concerns for the city s LGBTQ society appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta