- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 3 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
No another “hate” crime hoax!
Another hate hoax? Gay rights activist accused of burning down house, killing his own pets
Nikki Joly is a transgender man who helped open a gay community center and started a pride parade in the city of Jackson, Michigan. For his efforts, the local paper named him Citizen of the Year. So when the house where Joly was living burned down in 2017 and there was evidence it had been set intentionally, many suspected it could be a hate crime. But after an investigation police and the FBI both concluded the only person who could have set the fire was Joly himself.
Authorities are accusing Joly, who was named Citizen of the Year by the Jackson Citizen Patriot last year, of setting fire to his own home and killing his pets, two dogs and three cats. He has been charged with first-degree arson.
A hearing has been set for March 8 in Jackson County Circuit Court.
“We determined it pretty quickly to be an arson,” Elmer Hitt, Jackson’s director of police and fire services, said Monday. “We investigated it … over, what probably was a year’s time before the prosecutor ended up issuing charges.”
Last October, Michigan Live obtained police reports that included some of the details of the case.
Another hate hoax? Gay rights activist accused of burning down house, killing his own pets
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.