Crime, Justice, Minority Issues, Racism

Will Hate Crimes Be Prosecuted In Trumpworld?

If somebody commits a hate crime against you, don't expect the federal government to give a damn.

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(Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)

(Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that 300 “incidents of harassment or intimidation” have been reported in the week since Trump was elected.

In. A. Week.

Most of these reports involve activity that took place at schools. Apparently our children are feeling the brunt of Trump’s America, while white people try to talk to me about #NotAllTrumpVoters.

And then there’s this:

Some of the key players in the Alt-Right movement, along with other well-established platforms for white nationalists have rejoiced in Trump’s appointment of [Stephen] Bannon to a key role.

Richard Spencer, a white nationalist who runs the “think tank” National Policy Institute (NPI, and one of the most prominent Alt-Right figures, took to Twitter last night to praise Bannon. “Strategist is the best possible position for Steve Bannon in the Trump White House,” Spencer wrote. “Bannon will answer directly to Trump and focus on the big picture, not get lost in the weeds.”

Whoever Trump picks for Attorney General — be it Trey Gowdy or Kris Kobach or whatever other Death Eater Trump can scare up — we can assume that federal hate crimes prosecutions are over. Trump is in charge now: he doesn’t have to overturn the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, he can simply decline to enforce those laws against anybody.

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Trump, and the people who voted for him, think hate crimes can be stopped by staying “stop it.” That is likely the extent of their efforts at preventing the illegal intimidation of women and minorities, gays and transgendered individuals, and the disabled. Oh the disabled. Trump mocks the disabled. I don’t know that Trump will enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act, much less the updated Hate Crimes Law signed by President Obama.

If somebody commits a hate crime against you, don’t expect the federal government to give a damn. That’s not the world these Trump supporters just voted for. Straight white men, and only straight white men, are the only ones who can claim victimhood in this new world. The rest of us are on our own.

Of course, many hate crimes are policed and prosecuted at the state and local level. Please note, racist Trump supporters, when you bring your mess into New York or California, we’ll still be waiting on your ass. You won the country, stay in it. When you crawl out of your homogeneous heartland into our diverse cities, you will still be expected to pretend to be better than you are.

But again, the problem is that so many of these Trump fueled hate crimes are happening in schools. I can protect myself from the 60 million racists out there. I have no idea how to protect my children. I have no idea how to punish Trump children, who are just parroting the diseased bigotry they hear at home.

It’s going to get darker, a lot darker, for people who believe in a diverse society. The racists won. They will not enforce laws made to restrain their behavior.

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Hundreds of Hate Crimes Reported Since Election: SPLC [NBC News]
White Nationalists Rejoice at Trump’s Appointment of Breitbart’s Stephen Bannon [Southern Poverty Law Center]

Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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