[Buckeye Battle Cry]

Federal Hate Crime legislation does not require the defendant to be a governmental representative.

[ConservativeInPA]

Federal Hate Crime legislation does not require the defendant to be a governmental representative.

My bad. I learned civics before the age of political correctness. I do not think in terms of hate crimes. Murder is murder to me, regardless of color. GZ was found not guilty of 2nd degree murder. This will be very interesting case if it happens. I seem to recall something about double jeopardy. If the government brings another suit it will be the equivalent of double jeopardy.

I really hate liberals.

[tanknetter]

Federal Hate Crime legislation does not require the defendant to be a governmental representative.

True, but they're talking about Civil Rights violations, not a hate crime.

There's no way they're going to try for a hate crime prosecution. There's NO evidence that Zimmerman acted with any racial animosity. And there'd be ample witnesses that the defense would call to attest to Zimmerman's involvement in black youth mentorship, outreach to black churches and other activities he was engaging in. They'd end up looking even more foolish than they do right now.

Not only that, but it becomes a double-edged sword. It's pretty well documented that where there's a race difference between attacker and victim, the attacker is usually (overwhelmingly so) black or hispanic. A hate crimes prosecution against Zimmerman would really lower the bar to what is prosecutable. Which would result in a disproportionate number of hate-crimes charges being leveled against blacks and hispanics.

[Windflier]

Federal Hate Crime legislation does not require the defendant to be a governmental representative.

See post 10 by Red Steel...

“FBI report: No evidence George Zimmerman is racist

An FBI investigation into the shooting of black teenager Travyon Martin concluded that there’s no evidence the suspect, George Zimmerman, was motived by racial bias or hatred.”