Hate crimes = thought crimes = 1984. It is nothing but a marxist, totalitarian construct.
My son was a student at the University of Wyoming when this crime occured. The word on campus at that time was that the killers did not know that Matt Shepard was gay......in fact, very few people did know.
Agreed - a crime is a crime. There are laws on every state’s books to deal with murder, assault, rape, disorderly conduct, etc. There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED FOR SPECIAL “HATE CRIMES” ENHANCEMENT. Spoken by a judge, JAG, prosecutor and defense counsel, depending on which hat I’m wearing at the time.
Colonel, USAFR