Zincfinger is right, I could have stated my opinion more clearly. If someone is killed, the race of the person should not matter - a crime has been committed.
Where hate crimes indicate a difference to me is in the area of premeditation. If someone is a card-carrying member of the a hate group (Ku Klux Klan, Black Panthers, etc) and attacks and kills a man in a bar because of his race and as an act against people of his race, then he has committed a hate crime. In my mind, hate crimes occur when a person is a victim simply because of a perceived affiliation to a group.
That doesn't mean that, just because someone is of another race or other group, that a hate crime has occurred. In the case of the attack that started this thread, I don't think it was a hate crime because I think this guy would have attacked anyone. It may have been motivated by hatred and aggression, but it was directed at whoever was there at the time.
Where hate crimes indicate a difference to me is in the area of premeditation. If someone is a card-carrying member of the a hate group (Ku Klux Klan, Black Panthers, etc) and attacks and kills a man in a bar because of his race and as an act against people of his race, then he has committed a hate crime. In my mind, hate crimes occur when a person is a victim simply because of a perceived affiliation to a group.
That doesn't mean that, just because someone is of another race or other group, that a hate crime has occurred. In the case of the attack that started this thread, I don't think it was a hate crime because I think this guy would have attacked anyone. It may have been motivated by hatred and aggression, but it was directed at whoever was there at the time.
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