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Justice and only Justice shell we pursue....                And a Child shall lead them........News

Recent Media Coverage of National Alliance of Hate Crimes Investigators Asso.

All Defendants Convicted in 1999 Dragging Death in Texas

In 1999, three separate Texas juries found all three defendants on trial for dragging James Byrd Jr. to death on 7 June 1998, guilty of first-degree murder. The verdicts closed the book on one of the grisliest racial killings in recent American history. 

Shawn Allen Berry, 24, the last of three white male defendants to be tried in the case, was sentenced to life in prison on 19 November 1999. The other two defendants, John William King, 24, and Lawrence Russell Brewer, 32 were sentenced to death on February 25 and September 23, respectively. 

Byrd, a former salesman, was chained to the bumper of a pickup truck, and dragged for nearly three miles along a bumpy country road, northeast of Jasper.

If no other crime cries out for a Hate Crime Law, this one clearly does. 

Skinhead sentenced to Life + 32 Years for Racial-Motivated Murder

Nathan Thill, a neo-Nazi who claimed he was a warrior against people of color, was sentenced on 20 December 1999, to life plus 32 years for the Denver murder of an African immigrant who came to America seeking asylum and a job to support his family overseas. 

The victim, 38-year old Oumar Dia, was a hotel bellhop who not only sent $200.00 a month home to Diorivol, Senegal, to support his family, but also contributed to the Mile High United Way campaign. 

The killer, Nathan Thill, was a Colorado skinhead, and an alleged member of the white supremacist organization, Aryan Nation.

 On 1998-OCT-6, outside Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, was tortured, beaten, and left tied to a pole in the freezing cold. Six days later, he died of his wounds in Poudre Valley Hospital, Fort Collins, Colorado. Matthew was murdered because he was gay and because he was a prominent and charismatic member of the gay and lesbian student group on campus. 

Right now Wyoming and Colorado have no anti-hate crime laws; the state legislature in Wyoming has voted down anti-bias bills for each of the past three years. 

A petition was circulated to encourage Wyoming and Colorado to enact Matthew Shepard Laws, which would strongly punish the perpetrators of hate crimes. The petition also asked for the broadening of federal anti-hate crime law. As of 1999-MAR-19, the petition is closed.

Opening Statement

"As a newly formed National Organization in the United States, we the National Alliance of Hate Crime Investigators and District Attorneys Association (National Alliance) state strongly that violence on the basis of sexual orientation, race, religion, gender, disability, or color is wrong, is evil, is reprehensible."

These powerful words were uttered by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the midst of the racial unrest of the 1960s. Decades later, it seems the unrest of that period has resurfaced—but this time with a broader target. Last week's rampage on a Jewish community center in Los Angeles reminds us that crimes once driven solely by hatred for one's race now stem from opposition to one's religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit organization which tracks hate crimes, there were over 500 hate groups operating in the U.S. in 1998. The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles tallies even more, monitoring over 2,100 hate sites on the Internet.

The term "hate crime" is a part of our everyday vernacular. But what's the definition of a hate crime? What are the issues facing legislators, law enforcement officials, and the American public?

More importantly, why the proliferation of these violent crimes?

In the on-line magazine Slate, Eve Gerber writes, "The definition of a hate crime varies. Twenty-one states include mental and physical disability in their lists. Twenty-two states include sexual orientation. Three states and the District of Columbia impose tougher penalties for crimes based on political affiliation."

Current legislation allows federal prosecution of a hate crime only if the crime was motivated by race, religion, national origin, or color. In addition, the assailant must intend to prevent the victim from exercising a federally protected right. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999, passed by the Senate in July 1999, seeks to expand federal jurisdiction over these crimes.

Clyde Haberman of The New York Times described the views of hate crimes critics in a recent column. "What is really being punished, as they see it, is a criminal's thoughts, however objectionable they may be. The actions - incitement, vandalism, assault, murder - are already against the law."

The National Institute of Mental Health has funded the first major study of the consequences of hate crimes on victims, narrowing in on anti-gay hate crimes. Preliminary research indicates that hate crimes have more serious psychological effects than non-bias motivated crimes.

Identifying individuals planning hate crimes is a formidable task. One common trait is membership in a hate organization. The majority—and perhaps most recognizable—are fringe neo-Nazi or Ku Klux Klan groups, but some organizations such as the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) have reached a level of positive acceptance. At a recent CCC's national conference, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott— whose support of hate crimes legislation falters only because of its inclusion of homosexuality—was a keynote speaker.

In fact, a copy of Hunter, a novel by William Pierce (the leader of the neo-Nazi National Alliance) was found with the belongings of Oklahoma City bomber McVeigh. Pierce, like others involved with hate groups, has cultivated ties with other white American ethnic groups within our borders and abroad.

The Internet has undeniably contributed to alliances among these hate groups. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center's estimates— more modest than the Simon Wiesenthal Institute's— hate sites rose from 163 web sites in 1997, to 254 in 1998.

Changes in hate crime legislation— whether viewed favorably or negatively— are simmering. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999 was passed by the Senate, and awaits a vote in the House.

In the words of Vice President Al Gore: "We must send a clear and strong message to all who would commit crimes of hate: it is wrong, it is illegal, and we will catch you and punish you to the full force of our laws."

Contact Information:

For more information on the Committee on Hate Violence, or to invite us to your organization, school, business, or place of worship to discuss hate violence and its prevention, please call the Office of the National Alliance at: 

 

Telephone

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