Texas
Related: About this forumAbbott: Targeted Killing of Police Should Be a Hate Crime
Gov. Greg Abbott wants the targeted killing of a police officer to be deemed a hate crime in Texas and urged lawmakers to send him such a bill to sign during next year's legislative session.
Abbott announced Monday his plan to lobby for adding his Police Protection Act to Texas law. Along with extending hate crime protections to law enforcement, the measure would also increase criminal penalties for any crimes in which the victim is a law enforcement officer and "create a culture of respect for law enforcement by organizing a campaign to educate young Texans on the value law enforcement officers bring to their communities," according to a statement from Abbott's office.
Abbott's proposal follows weeks of targeted killings of police officers and growing tension over disproportionate encounters between black Americans and law enforcement. In the most recent event, Gavin Long, 29, of Missouri fatally shot three police officers in Baton Rouge on Sunday, according to Louisiana officials.
On July 7, Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, opened fire on officers in downtown Dallas, where protestors had assembled to protest the recent deaths of two black men by officers in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2016/07/18/abbott-wants-killing-police-officer-become-hate-cr/
Bok_Tukalo
(4,322 posts)I may have missed it but I thought Republicans considered it on par with thought crime.
Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)What could they have done differently in the last two cop killings if this hate crime law had been on the books?
Gothmog
(145,176 posts)The only practical benefit of a hate crime designation is enhanced penalties and killing a law enforcement officer already carries death penalty. Who will one provide a greater degree of punishment?
safeinOhio
(32,674 posts)that kill unarmed POC, just to be fair.