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 chosen members of the city s LGBTQ neighborhood 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 mentioned 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 public and anti-gay slurs were thrown absolutely it s time for an probe Bell mentioned But the Savannah Police Department mentioned 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 summary on the crime acknowledging that it responded to the crime Communication on the scenario also has been minimal between the Savannah Police Department and the city s LGBTQ neighborhood according to Bell I haven t heard from the police at all he revealed 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 society relations in an April review 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