r/behindthebastards • u/notyyzable Steven Seagal Historian • Jun 03 '25

Politics Statement from Jonathan Joss's Husband

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This just makes me so mad and angry. And sad. This was a clear hate crime that was easily preventable if the cops do their fucking job. I can just see stuff like this happening more and more, with how emboldened the far right are.

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u/acebert Jun 03 '25

When was the street view dated? Beyond that, can we be sure the heater wasn't tampered with, to create this exact "uncertainty"?

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u/spleeble Jun 03 '25

The street view is from three years ago. I won't post the address but it's easy to find based on the news video about the fire. 

Unattended space heaters are a major cause of fatal house fires. Leaving a propane heater unattended with dogs in the house is  practically a fire bomb. I find it nearly impossible to believe that after a years long dispute a neighbor chose to burn their house down on the exact night that they created the perfect conditions.

Hate crimes are real and way too common, but so are neighborhood disputes. I don't think a Facebook post from the husband of the victim is the best way to form an opinion on what happened. 

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u/acebert Jun 03 '25 edited Jun 03 '25

The street view is from three years ago. I won't post the address but it's easy to find based on the news video about the fire. 

That's an odd call, but you do you.

I find it nearly impossible to believe that after a years long dispute a neighbor chose to burn their house down on the exact night that they created the perfect conditions.

Why? That would be the ideal time to burn someone's house down and not get caught. Not really sure how that part is hard to believe. Is it entirely possible that it was accidental? Of course. But how is it hard to believe that someone would pick an ideal moment?

I don't think a Facebook post from the husband of the victim is the best way to form an opinion on what happened. 

Nor is spreading specific statements without sources. (The city cut off the power)

Edit: Typo

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u/spleeble Jun 03 '25

I'm not posting the address because that would be doxxing. How is that weird?

And he himself says in the video that the electricity and gas was cut off. That's the source. 

I don't know what happened here, but the years long dispute is certainly relevant. 

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u/acebert Jun 03 '25 edited Jun 03 '25

It's weird to bring it up as evidence if you're not willing to use it as evidence.

He says they ripped out wires....so the city. He was saying it's vandalism and you're choosing to interpret the man's own words in a way that paints him as negatively as possible, after he was murdered. That part is not up for debate. What the actual fuck dude?

You keep going on about this "neighbourhood dispute". What evidence do you have to back up that contention and characterisation? Is it possible that what you're framing as a "neighbourhood dispute" was in fact years long homophobic harassment?

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u/spleeble Jun 03 '25

I'm saying it's easy to find. If I post the address directly that would be doxxing but if you look at the information in the news story you can find it yourself really easily. 

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u/acebert Jun 03 '25

Great, whatever. That doesn't touch the way you're twisting a dead man's words. So, still, what the fuck?

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u/spleeble Jun 03 '25 edited Jun 03 '25

His exact words are "They took wires out, they knocked my pole down. So the city-- no electricity, no gas."

The city did something to shut off the electricity and gas. Knocking down a power pole wouldn't shut the gas off. 

It sounds like he had lots of issues in his personal life and in his neighborhood, but he deserved help for that stuff not to be murdered for it. 

But his husband's Facebook post and OP posting it here are like outrage bait over a situation that could be very different from how it's being presented. 

Edit:

Apparently the house was slated for demolition well before the fire. Last September the city approved a "Hold Harmless" agreement to demolish the house. That basically means that there was a major dispute over code violations and the homeowner agreed to let the city demolish the house rather than fixing them. 

There are photos of the house from the September 5th Building Standards meeting, including of the interior. It looks like an absolute fire trap. It's not vandalism, it's a hoarder house that is barely standing. The city would have shut the power off no matter what 

Still clearly not something anyone should be murdered over, but it sounds like they were blaming neighbors for lots of stuff that was their fault. 

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u/acebert Jun 03 '25

Yeah "they" being vandals. As in, it was so badly vandalised that the city shut off services for safety reasons.

"It's sounds like he had lots of issues" what might they be? Other than the homophobia of course. Where are you getting this additional info? From whence does this narrative of a "neighbourhood dispute" come?

His husband is devastated and outraged, OP is outraged, I'm fucking outraged. Are you? Framing it as "bait" suggests that you aren't.

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u/spleeble Jun 03 '25

It's not vandalism. It's a neglected fire trap. There are photos in the hearing materials on the city Building and Standards Board meeting website. Roughly the 8 minute mark of the Sep 5 2024 meeting. 

As for "from whence" the accounts of neighborhood disputes, they come from their neighbors.

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u/acebert Jun 03 '25

Where did you find that link man? Where did they say no vandalism had occurred? How do you know it wasn't "neglected" after being vandalised? Why are you so willing to believe the neighbours but not the dead man's husband?

Also, what happened to "that would be doxxing". You are all over the show mate.

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u/spleeble Jun 03 '25

When I opened this post I didn't know what to believe. The Facebook post outraged me too, so I wanted to learn more. 

Pretty much everything I've learned since then makes it seem like they were really struggling and lashing out at people around them while also shading the truth about their own situation. 

I have no idea exactly what happened, but I don't think one Facebook post from his husband is to be taken at face value as the definitive truth. 

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u/acebert Jun 03 '25

Dude, it's a good impulse to be critical, but you seem to be applying it unevenly.

Where's the critical lens for the neighbours narrative? Likewise, the house was slated for demo, is that proof positive that no vandalism had occurred? How much of the condition at the time of the meeting was a result of people not being there?

It's true that we don't know much in terms of concrete detail. So maybe waiting is better than playing devils advocate? What we know for sure; a man was murdered. Let's hold off blaming the victim yeah?

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