POSSIBLE hate crime? Please.

[EffieBlack]

When a gay black man is beaten, doused with bleach, called "f@gg0t" and "n!gg3r" and has a noose put around his neck, that's not a "possible" anything. It is a HATE CRIME. The only way "possible" should be used in a sentence here is to describe this as a "possible attempted lynching."

Even more galling and painful is that this occurred on the same day that a rich, entitled, privileged, racist white criminal out of jail on bail, flew first class to DC for a court appearance and parked at the Trump International Hotel when he's not doing interviews and press conferences, whined that his being indicted is a "lynching."

Link to tweet

[Jarqui]

1. They threw bleach on him

It makes me sick to even say that.

I cannot comprehend such an act. It won't compute. It's so outrageous and vile.
How do people even think of such things?

All these racist/homophobic acts are cruel, horrible and distressing but this one really got to me.

[Initech]

11. We need to stop calling it a hate crime, and start calling it terrorism.

Calling it a hate crime is only downplaying the situation and we also need to hammer the fact that this was done with a MAGA agenda, inspired by Chump's rhetoric.

[BigmanPigman]

15. DITTO!

[ecstatic]

21. Definitely terrorism. If that can happen to a celeb in Chicago,

where is it safe?

Looks like dump succeeded in reinvigorating the klan.

And a big f-u to everyone who assisted in his victory, whether directly or indirectly.

AND, f-u to the assholes who are straddling the fence and "both sides"ing everything while millions fear for their lives and livelihood.

Not sure which group I hate more, at this point.

[EffieBlack]

12. It sounds like they were laying in wait for him

Otherwise, what an amazing coincidence that a famous black gay man just happened to run into a couple of ski-mask-wearing homophobic racists who were out strolling in Streeterville at 2 am with bleach and a noose.

[sheshe2]

2. OMG.

"Possible Hate Crime?" Holy Shit#$%^$%^&*&^%$%^TY&U*&^%$R

Possible lynching?'

Lyrics
Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop

[912gdm]

3. its legalize..

the govt has to use those modifiers so they don't ruin the prosecution. this was a hate crime and it was disgusting.

[EffieBlack]

13. They don't say "possible assaut" or "possible murder" or "possible rape"

They just say they're investigating a rape or assault or a murder. But we still tiptoe around racism.

[912gdm]

16. actually a lot of times they do.

watch local news for a few weeks and you will notice those modifiers. If the police and media go out and say he assaulted, or he murdered, or he raped it would taint the jury pool and run rough-shot of our innocent till proven guilty system.

you said we tiptoe around racism, well im gay and have experienced homophobia and hate crimes for 20 years and know that while we tiptoe around racism we play the floor is lava around anything LGBT related.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. One of my pet peeves.

If a guy is shot 5 times in the back it’s not an alleged murder.

I get it, if they have a suspect, the suspect is the alleged murderer. It drives me nuts when they add alleged where not needed.

[EffieBlack]

18. No. You're comparing apples and oranges.

What you're talking about is how a SUSPECT is described, not how the crime is described. Yes, they refer to suspects as "suspects" or the "alleged" murderer, etc. But when they find a dead body stabbed through the heart, they don't call it a "possible murder" and when a woman says someone forced her to have sex, they don't call it a "possible rape."

And you're right about what we tiptoe around. I should have said we tiptoe around racism and homophobia because both are at play here.

[912gdm]

20. lets just agree this was heinous

and hope the perps are caught and brought to the fullest extent of the law.

[EffieBlack]

22. Agreed

[912gdm]

23. sweet....

[pnwmom]

26. It would be legalese to refer to "alleged" perpetrators. But they don't refer to possible crimes

in situations where there is no doubt, like this one.

[CatMor]

4. It is a absolute hate crime .....

I hope they catch the monsters. Probably some ugly people jealous of his success and good looks.

[gunsmoker]

5. Logic

Does the government, or the news media, have to pretend that it’s mere speculation that it’s a hate crime? Unless it’s a hoax intended to fool people, or unless the perpetrators had some other motivation but they tried to conceal that by saying the things they did during the attacking, it has got to be a hate crime. Call it for what it certainly looks like, unless and until you see a contrary plausible explanation.

P.S. The same goes for middle eastern guys who die screaming “Akkahu Akbar” while blowing up a crowd of shoppers or concert-goers. We can presume their motivation and take it as a fact unless and until some other theory comes out, well-supported in the evidence.

[greyl]

6. I usually don't mind when cops don't rush to judgement, but gather facts first.

"Apparent" would have been a better non-committal word.

[EffieBlack]

14. Yes - I could live with "apparent "

[UniteFightBack]

7. I'm sure the word possible will be omitted shortly ...and if not then that's when we go ham. nt

[Initech]

8. It was absolutely a hate crime, with an added dose of full MAGA.

More Trump inspired terrorism.

[ProudLib72]

9. Ding, ding!

And that is why they are tip toeing around the term "hate crime". Because, you see, if a person who commits a hate crime is a MAGAT, then it must be tied in with the orange shitstain's rhetoric. We couldn't allow that, though, could we?!

[Initech]

10. Yeah because they own the narrative and they can destroy anyone they want.

Which is how we get terrorists who act in the name of Dear Leader, but the media won't allow that will they? This is terrorism plain and simple, and adding MAGA to that makes it worse.

[MLAA]

19. I hope the police find the effing racist homophobic MAGA-maggot cowards

[iluvtennis]

24. Chicago has lots of CCTV -- fingers crossed the bastards are caught.

[iluvtennis]

25. Maxine Waters tweets she is dedicated to finding the culprits

Maxine Waters@RepMaxineWaters
3h3 hours ago
Jussie is my friend - a very talented & beautiful human being. It is so hurtful that homophobic haters would dare hurt someone so loving and giving. I'm dedicated to finding the culprits and bringing them to justice. Jussie did not deserve to be harmed by anyone!

Link to tweet

[orleans]

27. that word--"possible"--drove me crazy every time i heard it on the news today

"possible" my ass!

there was a fucking noose around his neck!

how the hell is that "possibly" a hate crime?

why couldn't chicago police just come the fuck out and say it is being investigated as a hate crime??