What is going on?! I feel for this guy!

[cookderosa]

my understanding is that the burden of proof on a hate crime is hard to prove, it's not worth getting this thrown out just to make a political statement. If the woman doing the hitting said "go back to Mexico" and this man was actually FROM Mexico, in my opinion, she didn't say anything wrong.  Attempted murder is cut and dry - assuming they can find these people, which they haven't yet been able to do.

The hate crime laws are NOT a political statement. It's a recognition of the intent of the person to not just commit the specific act, but to specifically target a group of people. In this case, doing it hoping that it will discourage Latinos from walking around the neighborhood or living near her.

Also, making it a hate crime can literally make a federal case out of it, which brings a lot more resources to the investigation.

I understand what you're saying, I just don't agree with it. From the little we have to go on, I don't see how one woman hitting one man with a brick is making a statement about a group of people. She clearly had issues with this ONE person, and they haven't caught her or the others yet. This feels like gang activity to me, especially since she called in a group of young men to help her. Perhaps it was racial, perhaps it was gang turf, perhaps he started it - we don't know any of that. I've probably gone as far down this path as I'm going to go, I'm not of the opinion that everyone should share my opinion, but I'm strongly attached to the idea that I get one - and that is part of what keeps our laws working for everyone.