The Developing Jonathan Joss Story
Joss Was Killed on June 1 -- The First Days of Pride Month and National Indigenous History Month in Canada
I had wanted today to focus on just Joss and his career. His most notable work is on King of the Hill, Parks and Recreation and Tulsa King. But as I told my Substack/Notes pen pal
(check out her Substack Rosalyn’s Writings), a lot of this story sounds hinky.After a strident denial that Joss’s murder was a hate crime, the San Antonio Police Department walked back its initial finding and said it gave a “premature statement.” Because of this along with Joss’s Dorsey Street neighbors — all of whom refused to show their faces on video during their news interviews — and local media framing the murder to be Joss’s fault, I changed my mind for today’s post.
Now I want to present interviews with Joss and his husband Tristan Kern de Gonzales who provide their account. It is vital their stories remain centered.
In the unearthed archive video below, Joss tells reporters that his father had built the now burned-downed home for his mother and that he and his soon-to-be husband had been harassed by neighbors. He also reveals that a neighbor (most likely the self-admitted murderer Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez who is under house arrest instead of remaining in jail for killing Joss) had threatened him with an assault rifle and that he had faced administrative problems with San Antonio in having the city turn back on his electricity. What strikes me is that he doesn’t blame anyone for the fire except himself.
In the next video, Gonzales, who was with Joss when he was killed, speaks with News 4 San Antonio about what happened. He provides a fuller story not only about Joss’s murder but about Joss himself.
World news is overwhelming and a dumpster fire as always, but it is vital that this story not be forgotten. Violence against the LGBTQIA+ community and Indigenous Peoples remains high and must not be ignored.