Normally, I wouldn’t republish, but I think this and important story and haven’t seen another diary point it out yet.
Two nineteen year old Maryland girls are being charged with a hate crime based on “race and religious beliefs” for trying to torch a Trump sign with a cigarette lighter according to delmarvanow a Maryland newspaper.
“Former UMES student Joy Shuford was so adamant about destroying a Trump billboard along a busy roadway in Princess Anne that when she lacked the physical might to tear it down, she reached for a cigarette lighter to set it on fire, according to documents filed in Somerset County District Court.
Shuford and Dasia Perry, both 19, are accused of not only arson but harassment driven by race and religious beliefs "based on the victim's political values," according to charging documents.
The victim is Robert Wink, who is white and a Republican supporter. Shuford and Perry are black, police said, and are unsympathetic to the victim's political viewpoints.”
Well, duh, two young women of color are unsympathetic with the Bigot-in-Chief and his supporters’ political views...stop the presses….
The resulting conflagration (those are the results above BTW) was so serious that “The Princess Anne Fire Department and emergency services personnel were "taken away from vital county emergency resources".
Really? Looks to me like the fire never took off, probably never did more than smolder a bit and go out.
Still this is serious stuff, says Somerset County Republican Committee Chair Matt Adams:
"It's sad that media keeps giving people a platform," said Adams, who served as the Lower Shore's Regional Coordinator of Trump's presidential campaign. "The Democrat Party put out so much rhetoric about Trump that it put people up to go out and do these things."
Reason Magazine takes a different view.
“The arson charge makes sense—the Trump sign was private property (it belonged to Robert Wink, who owns a sporting goods store in the shopping strip) and the blaze did get a bit out of control, according to firefighters. Vegetarion nearby caught on fire, causing an estimated $800 in damage, they say.
But a hate crime? That's where this story gets sticky. The government is effectively saying that having any political motive for doing something is as deplorable as doing it out of racism, misogyny, or hatred of LGBT people…..
And of course the possibilities for authoritarian abuse are tremendous. Political protesters arrested for minor offenses could have hate-crime enhancements thrown at them. Any act of civil disobedience would immediately become a hate crime.”
The young women of color face trumped (sic) up charges that could result in a sentence of 33 years and a $40,000 fine.
Are you freaking kidding me?
For singeing a yard sign?
Looks to me like the hate crime is being perpetrated against them.