Here were her exact comments: “The Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed,” Foxx, a Banner Elk Republican, said. “But we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn’t because he was gay.
“The bill was named for him … but it’s really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”
Rep. Foxx just states that the motive for the crime was robbery, not him being gay. And as poster #5 states, the perps confirm their motive (that of robbery) to Elizabeth Vargas.
So what is Rep. Foxx’s big misstatement here? She just reiterated the motives as stated by the perps. Thousands of people are brutally murdered every year, regardless of their sexual preference? Are they any less dead, or did they suffer any less because they were NOT gay?
After the trial. Before and during, one of the defendants and other witnesses said that Sheppard's sexual orientation was a factor.