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In reply to the discussion: Alt-Right Trolls Use Chicago Kidnapping to Spread Lies About Black Lives Matter [View all]SaschaHM
(2,897 posts)1. I have said that they've been charge with a hate crime.
2. Absent a the case going to trial and them being convicted, what a prosecutor charges them with is only what the prosecution believes that they should be convicted for. Not what the crime they have committed actually is. One glance at criminal justice in this country would show that prosecutors routinely overcharge in this country
3. Frankly, hate crimes are not simple black and white things because they are based off the motive of the perp more so than the victim. If a white guy were to shoot me, a black male, that doesn't automatically mean if will fit the legal definition of a hate crime. Neither would him using slurs while doing it be any more than evidence towards a motive.
I'm not minimizing this crime. It's hideous and they should be thoroughly punished.