USA History of Entrapment: Difference between revisions

From LGBTQIA+ Archives Wiki
No edit summary
(Changed redirect target from History of Entrapment(USA) to History of Entrapment (USA))
Tag: Redirect target changed
 
(3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
This page covers the history of entrapment, extortion, and blackmail of LGBTQIA+ communities in the [[USA]].
#REDIRECT[[History of Entrapment (USA)]]
 
== McCarthy Era (1950s) ==
 
* See [[USA McCarthyism]] for more details
 
During the McCarthy era, the US government and municipalities pursued gay communities, which the federal government labelled as threats to national security. The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover would participate in blackmailing "homosexual" federal employees and associates, while police detectives would attempt to seduce suspected gay residents to convict them of indecency or moral charges. At the same time, civilians would blackmail local gay individuals or those suspected of being gay, and extort them for money and other resources.
 
=== US Attorney Leo Rover, for D.C., fights to raise conviction rate for "homosexuals" (April 1954) ===
* The Evening Star reports of a convicted man during a period which US Attorney Leo Rover describes as "a very low percentage of police court convictions in cases involving homosexuals" (April 1, 1954).
* The Evening Star reports that Judge Armond W. Scott refuses to hear a case until a memorandum is studied; "the case came after... sharp commentaries on the trials of suspected homosexuals" (April 5, 1954).
* The Evening Star reports the United States Attorney representing [[Washington D.C.]] "took another step in his fight to raise the conviction rate in homosexual cases" (May 7, 1954).
 
<gallery>
File:1954-04-01-evening-star-man-is-convicted-of-morals-charge.png
File:1954-04-05-evening-star-scott-awaits-rover-memo.jpg
File:1954-05-07-evening-star-rover-gives-judges-moral-cases-data.png
</gallery>
 
 
=== US Navy Sailor Blackmailed (May 1954) ===
* The Evening Star reports on a 20 year old charged with blackmail for threatening to expose a Navy sailor as a "homosexual" (May 18, 1954).
* The Evening Star reports on the second hearing for a man charged with blackmailing a Navy sailor (May 19, 1954).
* The Evening Star reports on the second man charged with blackmail of a Navy sailor (May 20, 1954).
* The Evening Star reports on two men who extorted "money from a 28-year-old sailor by threatening to expose him as a homosexual" (June 2, 1954).
 
<gallery>
File:1954-05-18-evening-star-youth-faces-hearing-on-blackmail-charge.png
File:1954-05-19-evening-star-second-man-faces-hearing.png
File:1954-05-20-evening-star-hearing-of-second-man-in-blackmail.png
File:1954-06-02-evening-star-2-indicted-on-charge-of-extortion.png
</gallery>
 
 
=== 2 Youths Held in Steward Slaying (August 1954) ===
* The Evening Star reports on two youths who murdered an allegedly gay man who "planned to 'roll' homosexuals for their money" (August 10, 1954).
 
<gallery>
File:1954-08-10-evening-star-2-youths-are-held-in-steward-slaying.png
</gallery>
 
 
=== Local Judge Promises Crackdown on "Local Perverts" (December 1954) ===
* The Key West Citizen reports that Judge Enrique Esquinaldo Jr. will commit to a crackdown on "local perverts", says "the homosexual problem 'is not to serious in Key West -- and we're not going to let it get that way" (December 23, 1954).
 
<gallery>
File:1954-12-23-key-west-citizen-judge-promises-crackdown.jpg
</gallery>
 
 
=== Police Methods Criticized By Court (September 1956) ===
* The Evening Star, a newspaper in [[Washington D.C.]], describes court criticism of police entrapment in criminal pursuit of gay individuals (September 27, 1956).
 
<gallery>
File:1956-09-27-police-methods-criticized-by-court-in-morals-case.png
</gallery>

Latest revision as of 21:07, 20 September 2021