It's not a hate crime because Ohio police said so!
(via shininghalf)
Friday in Ohio, a mosque got gassed after an anti-Muslim DVD had been circulated, and it was decided that it wasn't a hate crime because the child didn't hear the suspects say anything.
...okay, folks, let's cover the basics, and I'll go slow since apparently there are TRAINED PROFESSIONALS who don't understand it: a hate crime is any crime committed on the basis of the victim(s)' sex, race, orientation, identity, creed, ethnicity, physical or mental capabilities, and some other factors I'm probably forgetting.
Piping gas into a mosque filled with worshipers during Ramadan, knowing around 300 Muslims--men, women, and children--are in the building and are going to be inhaling the gas? This is A HATE CRIME. There is no ambiguity here! None! You don't get to decide it wasn't simply because the perpetrators didn't say "IN THE NAME OF JESUS I SMITE THEE" or whatever they feel is necessary to qualify it as a hate crime.
Secondly: Fortunately, no one died, and only a handful of people had to go to the hospital. That doesn't mean this should be ignored, not for a minute. ANY hate crime, fatal or not, is dangerous. It's indicative of a far worse problem under the surface, and this is not first anti-Muslim hate crime to occur on American soil, not by a long shot. It NEEDS to be talked about, suspects should be identified and apprehended and prosecuted under the law as is proper. Why isn't this being talked about, or hell, even passingly MENTIONED, in major news sources? Last check I couldn't find any.
Thirdly: This is not a case of "lawl the terrorists are the terrorized now" irony. Don't even think it. The only irony here was pointed out to me in comments--but the vast majority of Muslims are decent human beings with normal human worries just like anyone else. It's disgusting and incorrect to consider all Muslims evil, insane, or irrational simply because there are factions of extremists and fundamentalists out there. Christianity has these too, but you'll see many clamoring to say they're the exception, not the rule, so it's unfair to paint everyone with the same stroke. Guess what? APPLIES HERE TOO. Muslims have a right to living peacefully and worshiping peacefully as much as any Christian or Jew without fear of being attacked for who they are. Personally, I don't agree with Islam, or any of the faiths of the Book for that matter. But EVERYONE has a right to live, work, and worship (or choose not to) in peace.
Because this is just an angry rant, please also read The Daily Kos and Racialicious for some far calmer approaches to the subject. I felt I needed to speak up; hell, a lot of people need to speak up. We can't let hatred win the day.
Friday in Ohio, a mosque got gassed after an anti-Muslim DVD had been circulated, and it was decided that it wasn't a hate crime because the child didn't hear the suspects say anything.
...okay, folks, let's cover the basics, and I'll go slow since apparently there are TRAINED PROFESSIONALS who don't understand it: a hate crime is any crime committed on the basis of the victim(s)' sex, race, orientation, identity, creed, ethnicity, physical or mental capabilities, and some other factors I'm probably forgetting.
Piping gas into a mosque filled with worshipers during Ramadan, knowing around 300 Muslims--men, women, and children--are in the building and are going to be inhaling the gas? This is A HATE CRIME. There is no ambiguity here! None! You don't get to decide it wasn't simply because the perpetrators didn't say "IN THE NAME OF JESUS I SMITE THEE" or whatever they feel is necessary to qualify it as a hate crime.
Secondly: Fortunately, no one died, and only a handful of people had to go to the hospital. That doesn't mean this should be ignored, not for a minute. ANY hate crime, fatal or not, is dangerous. It's indicative of a far worse problem under the surface, and this is not first anti-Muslim hate crime to occur on American soil, not by a long shot. It NEEDS to be talked about, suspects should be identified and apprehended and prosecuted under the law as is proper. Why isn't this being talked about, or hell, even passingly MENTIONED, in major news sources? Last check I couldn't find any.
Thirdly: This is not a case of "lawl the terrorists are the terrorized now" irony. Don't even think it. The only irony here was pointed out to me in comments--but the vast majority of Muslims are decent human beings with normal human worries just like anyone else. It's disgusting and incorrect to consider all Muslims evil, insane, or irrational simply because there are factions of extremists and fundamentalists out there. Christianity has these too, but you'll see many clamoring to say they're the exception, not the rule, so it's unfair to paint everyone with the same stroke. Guess what? APPLIES HERE TOO. Muslims have a right to living peacefully and worshiping peacefully as much as any Christian or Jew without fear of being attacked for who they are. Personally, I don't agree with Islam, or any of the faiths of the Book for that matter. But EVERYONE has a right to live, work, and worship (or choose not to) in peace.
Because this is just an angry rant, please also read The Daily Kos and Racialicious for some far calmer approaches to the subject. I felt I needed to speak up; hell, a lot of people need to speak up. We can't let hatred win the day.