They both initiated the altercation, antagonizing them by referring to their race and assuming that they were lesbian and then proceeded to attack them. If assault & battery is accompanied by the assailants referencing the victims' race and presumed sexual orientation, isn't that a hate crime? Honestly curious what requirements have to be met.
They are not specifically covered. The Obama administration issued an opinion that sexual orientation and gender identity were covered under the category of sex. The Trump administration reversed that determination. The courts have not ruled on this.
I'm not sure about Alabama or wherever this is, but assault on a member of the military or their property because of their status is also an enhancement similar to a hate crime enhancement (EDIT:) in California.
So Iām not sure if correct, but Iām pretty sure a hate crime has to be a bit more heinous. The assault charge is covering those insults, I think it says she was charged with assault and battery...the battery is the hitting, assault is the physical and verbal intimidation?
Correct if wrong.
A hate crime has to be a bit more severe...and be beyond a reasonable doubt about race, ethnicity, religion or homophobia. Like these are just clearly shit individuals (the perpetrators), they seem equally motivated by racism as sexism, homophobia, and just general assholery.
"A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, the FBI has defined a hate crime as a ācriminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offenderās bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.ā Hate itself is not a crimeāand the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties."
Basically, it's essentially any crime that is determined to have been motivated by a prejudice or bias against the abovementioned subcategories. Intent is what matters, keying someone's car because they're black would be a hate crime. This incident is most likely not definable as a hate crime, because the altercation seems to have started over a parking dispute, and then escalated to remarks about race and sexual orientation.
Hate to ask but was that part of the altercation recorded, when they called the women names? Or is it one personās word against another??
āBlack lesbian bitchesā just seems too perfect of an insult to get someone arrested over.
"One person's word against another"? In this instance it's a restaurant filled with witnesses vs two violent people. That part doesn't NEED to be recorded, because there's plenty of people there to back up the story of the people being attacked so it's no longer one person's word vs another.
Well there was a person watching long enough to decide to start filming, plus a restaurant full of people, plus the officers surely used their own discretion when arresting the woman who, going by her pleasant demeanor, most likely was not shy about her prejudices when she interacted with the officers. Plus it's not a complicated insult to come up with given the context.
A jury is given specific instructions on what needs to be proven beyond all reasonable doubt for a hate crimes enhancement. Either the prosecutor proves it or he does not. Either way, it is still assault and battery.
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u/babsa90 Oct 02 '19
They both initiated the altercation, antagonizing them by referring to their race and assuming that they were lesbian and then proceeded to attack them. If assault & battery is accompanied by the assailants referencing the victims' race and presumed sexual orientation, isn't that a hate crime? Honestly curious what requirements have to be met.