It’s relevant to me. I belong to the same faith as the victim. If there are loonies out there who would consider me to be a legitimate target because if my faith I would definitely like to know.
Even if one didn’t belong to the same faith as the victim one would be a target of violence by a total stranger, but yes, persons who don’t look like the majority in a given community, think like them or are a part of a different faith are at a much greater risk — especially in a country where even college graduates know little about the world outside their own well.
It’s not relevant to what kind of punishment one should receive. I cannot support punishing thought. I believe we should punish crimes. When we make thought a crime, it’s a slippery slope. Plus it’s not equally applied. How many black on white crimes are the result of black racism toward whites? You’ll never see that called a hate crime.