Another Straight Man Murdered Because Someone Thought He Was GAY
Cross posted at Replace the Lies With Truth
A man named, Aaron Hall (pictured) was found beaten and murdered and his body found wrapped in a tarp in his garage. The victim had been kicked with a pair of boot over 75 times. Hall was killed, admittedly by the assailants, because they thought he was gay. In reality, he was not.
The report from WTHR in Indianapolis says:
Police say on April 12th, Hall and the three suspects were drinking at Gray’s house. The suspects told police Hall grabbed Coleman King and questioned his sexuality. That set off the deadly beating.
“And they’re saying that’s why they killed him. Because he was gay. And he wasn’t gay,” said Thomas Hall. “I don’t know any crime on the planet that deserves that type of punishment.”
Court papers show Gray and King brutally attacked, then photographed Hall. King hit him with his boots at least 75 times. The suspects told police they dragged Hall down the steps, loaded him into Robert Hendricks’ truck, and dumped his body in a ditch. They say they went back two days later, and found Hall in a nearby field. That’s when they tell police they wrapped the body in a tarp and hid it in Gray’s garage.
To be beaten and kicked 75 times just because someone thinks you are gay is horrible. What a terrifying way to die. Studies indicate that hate crimes tend to be far more violent and brutal than non-biased crimes. That is certainly why we need punishments that fit the crime. Current sentencing guidelines are just not enough to speak to the brutality of hate crimes.
Here is some FACTS, not FICTION about hate crimes:
Fiction: A murder committed out of bias is no different from other murders.
Fact: Not all murders are treated equally in criminal law. For example, the difference between first and second degree murder, is the intent of the perpetrator. Bias crimes tend to be more violent. The attack is aimed at the identity of a person [causing on average two to three times more psychological trauma than non-biased crimes]. The effect of fear and intimidation is long lasting. Bias-crime victims frequently change their daily patterns of action and sometimes even their residence out of fear, which can affect the victim economically. Finally, a bias crime intimidates the whole Community to which the victim belongs and can drive wedges between groups of people, causing serious societal impact.
Fiction: All crimes involve hate; hate crime laws are redundant and unnecessary.
Fact: The crimes in question are more accurately identified as “bias crimes”; the term “hate crimes” is misleading unless it is used with a clarifying addition ¾ “hate crimes motivated by bias.” A bias crime is an act that is motivated by the perpetrator’s bias against the group to which the victim belongs. Obviously, not all crimes that involve hate are included in this definition of a bias crime.
Fiction: Bias crime laws violate free speech rights by criminalizing thoughts and beliefs.
Fact: Bias crimes must first be crimes. The bias isolated from the criminal action is not illegal. The Supreme Court defined these parameters of bias crimes in relation to free speech issues in two separate decisions.
Fiction: Bias-crime laws grant special rights to certain people.
Fact: Bias-crime laws identify certain categories, such as race, not specific communities of people such as Native American. The Bias Crime Law in Washington State identifies the categories of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, and physical, mental, or sensory disability. Indeed, bias crime charges have been filed in cases where the victim was targeted for being white.
Bias-crime laws cannot stop all perpetrators, but neither do laws criminalizing robbery stop all robbers. We need inclusive bias-crime laws that are clearly understood and resolutely enforced. Bias-crime law convictions help the healing process for the survivors of the crime, including the community to which the victim belonged.
RSS 27. April 2007 (11:15)Filed under: Hate Crime Laws, Hate Speech, Lies
