It seems like hate will never stop spreading. With the rise of homophobia and racism, even more tragedies have been occurring. Unfortunately, one of its latest victims is Jonathan Joss Gonzales, a beloved actor and musician. He was unexpectedly shot in Texas while visiting his old home. His husband was by his side when it happened and quickly called the police and paramedics in an attempt to save his life. Sadly, Jonathan passed away from the gunshot wound he received.
More details have come to light thanks to Jonathan’s husband speaking out. According to Tristan Kern de Gonzales, they were actually visiting their old house, which had been burned down by a neighbor. The reason? The neighbor was extremely homophobic and hated seeing two men in love.
This wasn’t sudden either. The couple had been receiving hateful speech and death threats for quite some time. Even though they reported these threats to the Texas police, nothing was done to protect them.
After their Texas house was burned down, they went to collect their mail and instead found the skull of one of their dogs along with its harness. The sight shocked and horrified both Jonathan and Tristan.
Soon after, a neighbor arrived, yelling violent homophobic slurs. Without warning, he opened fire on the couple. Jonathan Joss tried to protect his husband by pushing him out of the way, causing the bullet to hit himself. Thankfully, Tristan was unharmed as the attacker quickly fled the scene.
Police soon arrested a suspect named Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, who has been confirmed as a neighbor of Jonathan’s. The investigation is still ongoing. In his post, Tristan criticized the police for ignoring their reports and failing to take the threats seriously. He also thanked Jonathan’s fans for their support and assured everyone that he would be okay. He added, “Jonathan saved my life. I will carry that forward. I will protect what he built.”
Many internet users expressed their sympathy for Tristan. Many couldn’t believe how someone could be so hateful as to shoot a person just for being gay. One user wrote, “OMFG. This is a hate crime. That killer must be charged with a capital crime and receive the death penalty.”
Others criticized the police for not taking Jonathan’s reports seriously, contributing to this tragic incident. One Redditor commented, “It’s tragic how awful SAPD is at handling situations like this. In every case where I’ve tried to help a real victim facing harassment, SAPD dismisses it entirely. I’ve had to be very insistent just to get them to write a report and issue a case number.”
