My state, Iowa, has a population of 2,904,419 and 15
incidents of hate crime reported. In the state of Iowa, hate crimes include:
·
Bias-motivated violence and intimidation
·
Civil action against someone based on race,
religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or disability.
·
Data collection
·
Training for law enforcement personnel
Iowa defines a hate
crime, which is classified as a class D felony, as one of these crimes “committed
against a person or a person’s property because of the person's race, color,
religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual
orientation, age, or disability, or the person's association with a person of a
certain race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political
affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age, or disability”:
1. Assault in violation of
individual rights
2. Violations of
individual rights
3. Criminal mischief in
violation of individual rights
4. Trespass in violation
of individual rights
One case of hate crime
that I found in Iowa was the 2011 mob beating of 19 year old Marcellus Andrews,
who died two days later after being taken off life support. Although this case
was not officially classified as a hate crime, there was a lot of out-cry from
the public because “witnesses said the assailants called Andrews a derogatory
name relating to sexual orientation as they beat him.” Police arrested Paris
Anding (19 years old), who was said to have used a bat in the attack against
Marcellus, and charged him with second-degree murder. He was found guilty of
voluntary manslaughter, which has a maximum jail-time of 10 years.
I found two posters that
urge people to report hate crimes. The first says “Being different is not a
crime, victimization is…” The second states “Verbal abuse. Swearing. Threats.
Intimidation. Harassment. Bullying. Physical abuse. Vandalism. Graffiti. You
don’t have to hit for it to be hate crime.”
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