From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
A transgendered couple from Cambria County with ties to the University of Pittsburgh have been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh that is investigating the rash of bomb threats at Pitt.
The couple, Seamus Johnston, 22, and Katherine Anne McCloskey, 56, said FBI agents visited their apartment in Jackson Township, outside of Johnstown, on Wednesday to discuss the bomb threats and served them with subpoenas Thursday. They were ordered to appear Tuesday before a grand jury.
“I asked if we were persons of interest and they nodded their heads,” said Ms. McCloskey, who was born as a man but has been living as a woman for a year.
“I told them during the first interview and again on Thursday I was not involved in this and don’t know anybody involved in it and I don’t know much about it other than what I see in the student newspaper,” said Mr. Johnston, who was born a woman but identifies as a man.
Until recently, Mr. Johnston was a junior honors student at Pitt’s Johnstown campus, majoring in computer science.
Mr. Johnston, who has been undergoing hormone treatments for 10 months, said the FBI agents told him he was being investigated because he had been expelled in January from Pitt-Johnstown over a clash with university authorities over which locker room he was allowed to use.
This is a stunning turn of events. The facts involving Seamus’ situation at Pitt Johnstown are tied to the recent University reissuance of “bathroom” policies related to gender identity. Seamus’ partner, Katherine, shared her perspective on the situation on another local blog recently.
After posting the PG link on my Facebook page, I was informed by multiple persons that other bomb threats and evacuations occurred overnight. I haven’t been able to confirm those reports.
All I can offer at this point is that this is a somewhat stunning turn of events. I am hopeful that appropriate legal counsel will step in to assist the couple and assure that all of their rights are preserved during the investigation.
More later.
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Does this follow-up headline seem sensationalist to you?
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/transgender-man-claims-discrimination-631663/
I initially glossed over the word “investigation,” which changes the entire meaning of the headline.
Is this man their only suspect, or the only one they’re publicizing? Because just the notion that he had a beef is not much of a direct link to bomb threats.
To be fair, I believe that this couple were the only ones subpoenaed who were willing to speak with the Post-Gazette because of the issue behind their grievance with Pitt. If you compare the article from Saturday to the one posted on the website last night, you’ll notice an improvement in the reporting. That’s because GLAAD took a lot of time to get involved. That’s only good. The PG is head and shoulders above the rest.