Category: Hate Crime
Hate crimes again made headlines in recent weeks when a gunman killed eight people, including six Asian women, in Atlanta. The Biden administration faces pressure to bring hate crime charges against shooter Robert Aaron Long, 21, over the killings. However, the incident demonstrated flaws in the federal legislation, according to the Washington Post. The hate…
Few crimes have caused the degree of national outcry and soul-searching as the killing of 22 people at a Walmart store in El Paso last summer. Now the North Texas man accused of the mass shooting has been charged with hate crimes and nearly 100 federal crimes. Patrick Crusius has been charged with both federal…
Texas is no stranger to hate crimes that target minorities. In recent months, the Dallas community has been shocked by a series of deadly attacks on transgender women. In May, hundreds of people from the LGBTQ+ community attended the funeral of Muhlaysia Booker, a 22-year-old transgender woman who was shot and killed. Her body was…
The recent execution of a 49-year-old man in Texas drew a line under a grisly crime that provided a template for hate crime laws in Texas and across the nation. John William King, an avowed racist, was executed by lethal injection in Texas on April 24. The execution was carried out 21 years after King…
Hate crimes have reached a record high, according to a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The report states that hate crimes have surged to record levels in the 10 largest cities in the country, with hate crimes jumping by 12 percent since 2017. In fact, the numbers are the highest they’ve been…
Another fatal shooting of a police officer in San Antonio has highlighted violence against law enforcement officers in Texas. Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state flags to be lowered to half-staff in San Antonio to honor Officer Miguel Moreno. He was killed in a shoot-out last Thursday and died a day later. Moreno…
The scope of hate crimes in Texas will expand if a bill to make all attacks on first responders hate crimes becomes law. The bill introduced in the Texas legislature would increase penalties for attacks against any first responder, including police, firefighters and EMTs, and make them hate crimes. Texas governor Greg Abbott spoke in…
Texas is the next state to look at a controversial “bathroom bill,” – a measure that ran into trouble when it was introduced in North Carolina. The state’s Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is proposing a bill that will prevent transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice, reported The Guardian. A similar bill was…
Certain types of speech can be classified as “hate speech,” and they often fall into a gray area between protected speech and unlawful speech. Hate speech is often a poorly understood area of law. In many cases, hate crimes are prosecuted under federal law. If you have been charged with this type of crime, you…