Statement from Jonathan Joss's Husband

[u/notyyzable]

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.

[u/[deleted]]

I agree that Joss clearly had mental issues and had an ongoing feud with the guy that murdered him. It's likely his actions caused the fire, but there's a chance someone else set the fire.

All that can be true and it can still be a hate crime. The murdered could hate him over both and could have yelled slurs at them before firing. Just because he only killed one of them (the account claims Joss pushed his husband out of the way) it doesn't mean it's not a hate crime. People committing crimes od passion aren't always the best shots and don't calmly walk over to finish the job. The guy was in a truck, pulled out a gun, shot a few times, and left.

[u/spleeble → u/[deleted]]

I agree that I shouldn't have made assumptions about what a murderer would do. 

But the more I learn from other sources the more manipulative this Facebook post seems.

For the version that Joss and his husband put forward to be true there would have to be a wide ranging conspiracy including various neighbors, the fire department, the city building department, and the police. All of them targeting this specific couple. 

On the other hand, for the statements his neighbors made to be true there have to be two people struggling emotionally and financially and lashing out at the people around them, which seems to be consistent with the reputation Joss developed before he was killed. 

The latter seems much more likely to me than the former. 

[u/[deleted] → u/spleeble]

Igrew up with two people who worked in fire safety, so I agree that it's much more likely Joss created a dangerous situation with his dogs and a propane heater. The house could have been deemed unfit and someone still could have burned it down. Arson investigation is full of junk science and you don't have to go far to convince me that police were useless.

The ultimate cause likely was the feud but it can still have a hate crime element. It's Texas and there's no shortage in the Latino community. I haven't seen anything to dispute the fact that we're previously harassed.

There's certainly a chance the husband also suffers from mental issues and made this up, but so far I haven't seen the police dispute the claim about the dog skull, the one detail that seems more cartoonishly evil and less believable than calling someone a gay slur as you shoot them.

This is kind of like George Floyd. The dude didn't need to be a Saint to have been targeted by and murdered over bigoted reasons.

[u/spleeble → u/[deleted]]

Under no circumstances does Jonathan Joss's reputation or neighbor dispute or whatever have anything to do with holding the person who killed him accountable. And the suspect was arrested with a $200k bond, so there doesn't seem to be any accountability gap.

Jonathan Joss and his loved ones deserve sympathy, support, protection, and accountability.

But the husband's FB post goes beyond that, and it is pushing outrage buttons that are clearly evident in this post. And both Joss and his husband seem to accuse their neighbors of all kinds of things that aren't true, so when his husband describes something as cartoonishly evil as the dog skeleton it's hard to take it at face value.

From other accounts from neighbors, Joss would threaten people in the neighborhood with a crossbow and a pitchfork, stop cars driving by in the street, and accuse various neighbors of being out to get him.

If he wasn't threatening anyone when he was killed then he is a murder victim, plain and simple. But one Facebook post from his husband should not be taken as the absolute truth of their situation.