Baumeister & Beckwith
The worst of Hamilton County, Indiana on National Display
What do Herb Baumeister and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith have in common?
They’re both from Hamilton County, Indiana.
Let me preface all of this by saying, I am not in any way, in any realm, comparing the actions of Herb Baumeister with Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s conduct. I am, however, pointing out that some of the cultural similarities that enabled Baumeister in the 1990s are still present, enabling Micah Beckwith today.
Through Lt. Gov. Beckwith’s public statements and a new documentary about Baumeister’s atrocities, Hamilton County, Indiana is getting widespread attention, for all the wrong reasons.
Fox Hollow Murders, a documentary streaming on Hulu, showcases the decades-long forensic effort to identify the victims of Herb Baumeister that were found on his property in Hamilton County called Fox Hollow Farm. In the 1990s, families and friends were reaching out to police about their loved one going missing in and around the Indianapolis area and they were met with a classic law enforcement response: they probably ran away. These families were largely ignored because the missing were gay men. When over 10,000 bone fragments were discovered on Fox Hollow Farm, these families were eager to learn if their brother, uncle, or friend was a victim of Herb Baumeister. However, they were devastated to learn that because Baumeister ended his own life before he could be prosecuted, Hamilton County officials were unwilling to allocate any resources to identifying the victims. Again, because the victims were gay men.
Fast-forward to the 2020s and Micah Beckwith, a conservative paster and Christian Nationalist from Hamilton County is a rising political star in Indiana for his inflammatory anti-women, anti-trans, and anti-immigrant rhetoric disguised as his religious beliefs. Within four months of taking office, he is tearing down any separation between church and state, encouraging people to take Christian-nationalist classes on Biblical Citizenship, publicly claiming the 3/5 compromise was a great move, not actually discriminatory and the Bible doesn’t require Christians to help the poor and vulnerable.
The conservative cruelty, masquerading as Christianity that allowed Herb Baumeister to murder with impunity is alive and well in Hamilton County and in Indiana as a whole. The unapologetic hate Lt. Gov. Beckwith spews still resonates with many in Indiana. As long as Beckwith sticks to Baumeister’s playbook and targets those considered “less than;” like the LGBTQ+ community, women, immigrants, people of color, he remains confident no consequences will come.