There’s a unique response to Lucas’ murder – none of the local media outlets covering the crime have used Lucas’ name or any identity. Their focus has been on the murderers. I’ve been doing this for over 13 years and I’ve not encountered this before. Typically, outlets will say “the victim” or “the male victim” or “a local man was killed yesterday.” I’ve certainly encountered a lot of deadnaming and misgendering.
But if you read through the coverage, you’ll see almost no reference to Lucas at all. The outlets mention the suspects first on the run, then captured. No mention of the crime or the victim, not even in broad strokes.
I feel like the article frames this crime in a strange way. It doesn’t sound like it had anything to do with Lucas’ identify, tbqh. I agree that the neighbors are evil, that this is tragic, that Lucas’ name and identity need to be respected, and that here is probably erasure happening here. But this doesn’t sound like a hate crime against Lucas, even if it might have been a hate-related with the intended target (I don’t have enough information to speculate either way). Someone please correct me if I missed something here