“We have been notified that, after only a few months in prison, Dustin Camp has been placed in the review process for early release (parole). We did not expect this to happen for at least another year. Apparently he becomes eligible for parole on June 7, 2002. His file was placed in the review process December 11, 2001-only three months after he was sentenced to eight years!!! Unfortunately, we were not notified.”

You may remember that he was originally given a slap on the wrist for the slaying of Brian Deneke, 8 years probation or something silly like that. Not to long ago, the men of the Camp family thought it would be a fun outing to stay home one night and get shitfaced. Probably not the smartest idea when you’re on probation.

http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/062801/new_campis.shtml

As it would happen, a concerned citizen called the police on the offending youths. As the police were attempting to identify all the kids, Dustin slipped out the back, and arrested later that evening. Camp was finally sent to prison after being found guilty of violating the conditions of his probation.

http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/090801/new_lopezassigns.shtml

If you don’t know the story of Brian Deneke, here are some links. They’re Google cache links because Texas Monthly only allows subscribers to view archived articles.

texas monthly article, page one
texas monthly article, page two

in addition to submitting a letter to the texas board of pardons and paroles, there’s a petition you can sign to protest the early release of camp.

http://www.petitionpetition.com/cgi/petition.cgi?id=3489

i remember reading about this in punk planet(?).

anyway, this page has links to a history through news stories in amarillo:

http://www.briandeneke.org/articles.htm

grrr. i remember reading about Brian Deneke in punk planet and being so, so grateful that i don’t have to go back to high school, ever.

now this, this just plain sucks. the amarillo globe-news is full of outraged letters from locals. it’s sad. i read them and signed the petition as well, though i doubt either of those things does any good.

from the Texas Monthly article:

They were no longer outsiders by circumstance but by choice. Flaunting their differentness, they styled their hair into mohawks, covered themselves with tattoos and piercings, and wore secondhand clothes on which they scrawled slogans like “No Future.”

after the original court verdict was handed down, the local talk radio station was flooded with calls from outraged listeners, and everyone in amarillo seemed sympathetic to the denekes and the kids who were just as likely to be victims as brian was.

so what should happen on my next visit to amarillo? walking to a convenient store results in getting flipped off by two trucks that pass me, and having a stopped motorist shout “nice haircut faggot” before speeding off.

amarillo is still as punk/goth/freak unfriendly as ever, despite everyones supposed disgust with the camp/deneke case. it’s not surprising that the majority of my friends have left.

are you from amarillo?

i lived there for about 4 years. i had moved away shortly before brian was killed.

I have no problem with the punk crowd nor do I have any problems with the homosexual crew(that is if you are.) I guess where I’m confused is why on earth would a guy or girl dress the way they do and or act a certain way in such a backwards town such as Amarillo Tx. Where simply wearing you hair will cause certain death. I know your saying “Well, we live in a free Country” Apparently not in Amarillo you don’t. So my advice to those who want to decorate you scalp with a sodering iron or pierce your ears with live babies, move to San Francisco, or Key West. Hey, don’t get mad at me, you would’nt catch me dead in a ces pool like Amarillo.

my advice to you is to keep your boca shut.

I want to put this very simply— Dustin Camp and anyone who defends him is disgusting. He thought that it would be okay to beat the shit out of someone because was looked at as less than in his community. EVERYONE that harbored that evil and continues to do so- the schools, the parents, and the other kids are guilty. The only satisfying thing will be when each of these “punks” go on and are successful in life, make money and leave that shit hole. The rest of the so-called jokes .. I mean, jocks will stay there, pop out some babies and work in some sad TV repair store.