This story:
Homeless man charged with hate crimes for defecating on two LGBTQ+ Pride flags: NYPD
A homeless man has been charged with several hate crimes for defecating on an LGBTQ+ Pride flag and wiping his behind with another at a Manhattan restaurant, according to the NYPD.
Fred Innocent, 45, walked into Buceo 95, a tapas bar on W. 95th St. and Broadway on the Upper West Side, on April 15 at about 10 a.m. as the day crew was setting up and grabbed two rainbow flags off of a table, cops said. He relieved himself on one of the banners, according to police, then cleaned himself with another.
Innocent, whose address comes back to a Harlem shelter, was charged with burglary, harassment and trespassing, all as hate crimes. He was also hit with additional trespassing charges and burglary, not as a hate crime.
He was arrested in Midtown and was awaiting arraignment as of Wednesday evening.
“If I’m asked to go to court, I’m going to press for the maximum charge possible,” she said.
He wiped his ass with a Pride flag and they elevated that to a hate crime.
Had he just stolen something, the NYPD would have done nothing because they don’t prosecute people for shoplifting anymore.
But he got shit on a Pride flag so they are going to throw the book at him.
This, however, is free speech:
I don’t see the NYPD arresting anyone and charging them with hate crimes.
You can desecrate an American flag but not a Pride flag in New York City.
Tell me that Pride is the state religion without telling me it’s the state religion.
That is the problem with “hate” crime laws in one single story.
.
As you note. Had he shit on a US flag, no problem, minor charge if any. Had he pulled the shirt off a straight man and used it for his business, minor slap on the wrist. But, instead he used a pride flag, and BOOM! it is a hate crime. As an illustration…
Two guys get into a fight in a bar because one of them is making moves on the other guy’s date.
If both guys are white, no problem.
If both guys are black, same… no problem.
If both guys are gay, no problem.
But… the moment there is a “protected” difference between the men, white versus black, straight versus gay, whatever… it suddenly elevates into a hate crime. Without any consideration of intent.
.
How does anyone know what his intent was when grabbing the pride flag? It was a convenient piece of cloth? That is not hate in any way. Can the courts determine the intent? How? I do not see any indication in the article that the pooper deliberately and knowingly chose the pride flag over other items because of a hatred of gays, but who cares? It was damaging to a protected species.
.
If intent matters so much (e.g. what hate crimes hinge on) then why does attempted murder get less punishment than actual murder?
.
(I also have thought this difference basically rewards the would-be murderer for being incompetent.)
As most things in the universe have opposite numbers, there can’t be hate crimes if there aren’t love crimes.
“I love you man, that’s why I’m hitting you on the head and taking your wallet and phone.”
Ah. An intervention.