Matthew Camp unleashed his fury on The New York Times after they wrote a story related to his apparent hate crime.
“@nytimes please stop with these sensationalist headlines,” he wrote on his Instagram story over an image of the actual piece. “Someone tried to kill me and it’s all about ‘Halloween houses'”.
“Church of Satan’s ‘Halloween House’ Gutted by Arsonist,” is the headline in question that their writer Corey Kilgannon wrote on Tuesday. The subhead reads as follows: “A campy Gothic house in Poughkeepsie’s ‘Witchcraft District’ that served as a gathering place for the atheist group went up in flames.”
A good portion of the New York Times article focused on the history of the Poughkeepsie, New York house that Matthew was in prior to someone setting it ablaze while he and his friend Six Carter were inside. Luckily they were able to escape the fire unharmed.
Kilgannon wrote about details of said property that was once owned by a man named Joseph Mendillo before his death last year. Mendillo, known to locals as Joe Netherworld, was a priest in the Church of Satan (described as an atheist philosophy emphasizing individualism, liberty and self-fulfillment”) who cultivated the house as an “exotic homage” to filmmaker Ed Wood who was born in the area.
The adult entertainer appears to be livid with them for publishing several quotes of his related to the house’s legacy while allegedly omitting anything relating to the arson being a hate crime or even suggesting it as a possibility.
“Hate crime,” he began in his last Instagram story related to the article. “I’m visibly apart of the queer community and a sex worker- you think that’s not related to a murder attempt? Not even addressed by @nytimes. Stop silencing hate.”
Camp said that he purchased the house in October 2020 to help “maintain it in the same spirit”. It was a place that attracted many from the LGBTQ community, according to him, who said that it was “not uncommon” to see Mr. Mendillo “serving a meal to a group of transgender homeless people.”
The 36-year-old did mention the possibility that someone misconstrued the home for a place of devil worship as to why they destroyed his house but he still has “no idea” why someone would want to do that and “endanger his life.”
He shared horrifying photos of his house burning down along with a still image of the arsonist coming up on the steps of his home just seconds before the blaze and splashing a liquid (presumably gasoline) all over the front porch. The time stamp on the video shows it was 5:09 am.
The person in question, as of January 20, has not been tracked down yet. Two of Matthew’s friends, Six Carter being one of them, set up a GoFundMe for him in the aftermath of this attack that has already exceeded its $60,000 goal in less than 48 hours of being active.
Sourcing: The New York Times