• atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      It’s not a description, it’s a legal term. If they claim it is a hate-crime they have to be able to prove they had a specific motivation which can be difficult.

      • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        They beat a person near to death for looking too man-ish and being in the women’s bathroom. I don’t think hate crime will be a hard thing to prove here.

        • tomi000@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Yeah just like it wouldnt be hard to prove cops killing innocents when there is literal video evidence, yet we know how thats working out.

        • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          Remember, some of the jury will probably be at least loosely against lesbians or trans people. If all you have is she said, he said, those people won’t convict for a hate crime. But if you stick to just the beating, which doesn’t need to prive a motive, they would vote to convict. It sucks, but that is what a jury of your peers means.

      • FistingEnthusiast@lemmynsfw.com
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        5 days ago

        Oh, I know

        I said as much further down

        The legal burden of proof is fraught

        My initial reaction was born of frustration and disgust at what had happened

      • xor@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 days ago

        why else would a group of boys beat a woman almost to death? i’m sure there’s witnesses and security video showing it started over the bathroom.
        in this great nation, they’re happy to charge you with multiple excessive charges and then drop some during the plea bargain.
        in this case: Assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than death, and hate crime modification… two felonies…. being able to perfectly prove it comes later….

        • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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          5 days ago

          why else would a group of boys beat a woman almost to death?

          You make an excellent point - it’s never happened before for any other reason.

          • xor@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            5 days ago

            oh hehe, so fucking clever.
            go ahead and pretend like you don’t know what i mean… i won’t be arguing with a disingenuous person like yourself.
            (if you’re actually that stupid, it’s about likelihood, not “it’s never happened ever so never ever could times infinity”.
            two boys attacked one woman, in a mcdonald’s, with no provocation, interaction, or plausible reason other than she used the bathroom and wasn’t feminine enough so they thought she was trans. Words were exchanged that betrayed their motives.
            the “why else” has, throughout history, been for robbery or sexual assault… or occasionally a single person with mental illness, not a pair of men them…. i’m not advocating for a conviction, i’m advocating for criminal charges, the nitty gritty can be sussed out in court)

            • tomi000@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              Not sure what youre being so defensive about. You made a wrong assumption which in no way would hold up in court, thats what they pointed out. Youre making it sound like winning a case is the same as solving a math equation, but its not. In many cases it is very complicated and legal moves need to have a solid basis.

              Your reaction is very childish and its only purpose was to mask your unknowingness.

              Im not even sure you understood the point they were trying to make. Guys beating up women happens a lot (at least a lot more often than it should) and most of the time for reasons other than homophobia.

      • FistingEnthusiast@lemmynsfw.com
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        5 days ago

        Sadly, the odds of getting a conviction

        They can easily get assault, but a hate crime requires proving intent and having a jury sympathetic to the victim

        It’s a shitty situation

        • catloaf@lemm.ee
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          5 days ago

          A group of strangers started harassing her and using anti-gay slurs as she left the restroom

          Sounds open-and-shut hate crime to me.

          • FistingEnthusiast@lemmynsfw.com
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            5 days ago

            Now convince a jury of stupid, ignorant yanks of that.

            Edit: I live in Australia

            To us, you’re all “Seppos”

            Septic-Tank>Yank

            • Drusas@fedia.io
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              5 days ago

              Yanks are from the northeast, which is generally fiscally conservative and socially progressive.

            • catloaf@lemm.ee
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              5 days ago

              There are no Yanks in Illinois. That’s the Midwest. We’re in the Northeast (though ignorance is not regional).

                • Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world
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                  5 days ago

                  Canada too.

                  Y’all down there in Red White and Stupid land can complain all you want about “yanks” meaning all the US considering you’ve co-opted “American” to mean the same thing.

  • MuskyMelon@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    At least Attempted Murder 2 and Assault & Battery 2… But I’ll bet that those hateful fucks are good boys and things just got out of hand.

  • dorkenhymer@lemm.ee
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    4 days ago

    “The Kane County State’s Attorney’s office initially declined to issue hate crime charges, but on Wednesday said they are working with police to determine if hate crime charges are appropriate.” What else could this be?

    • floofloof@lemmy.caOP
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      5 days ago

      A group of strangers started harassing her and using anti-gay slurs as she left the restroom.

      When she walked away, she said they followed. She told the strangers she is a lesbian and flicked her wrist at them.

      “How it started was because I’m a lesbian — just because I walked into the woman’s bathroom, and I looked the way I look,” Grass said.

      Sounds like the reason it’s mentioned is because it’s why they attacked. It was a homophobic attack.

      • Granbo's Holy Hotrod@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Nope. Never indicated anything like that. Im just not sure what telling these unhinged goons that you are a lesbian was supposed to accomplish. Confirming their bias probably wasnt the safest play, especially when someone else is in your care. I cant Dr Strange the scenerio to weight all the outcomes but if I had any advice for someone experiencing a similar situation, dont engage, remove yourself from the scene, go to or stay where people are, and I say this with a whole bag of salt…call the cops.

        • klao@sh.itjust.works
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          4 days ago

          fair advices and I agree on not engaging but I’d not blame it on someone for being themselves, you and I could think of it at a similar situation maybe because of overcautiousness but some people even if they experience bad experience with some they still won’t just start being like that too out of nowhere and I don’t blame them, shaming why the victim were being themselves only seem to minimize the fault of the aggressors imo

          • Granbo's Holy Hotrod@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            I think that might be the disconnect. She should be able to be, say and do whatever. She has the same rights we all do and the attackers are 100% the catalyst and at fault. But not being able to examine the nuance and learn from it…wtf… Be safe out there people.

            • klao@sh.itjust.works
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              4 days ago

              Well, I didn’t say it is in this case but could be. Also you never know if the person has Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD) or how someone copes with such negative experiences that could affect their memory of it, a lot of factors could be at play but good on you for clearing up it was just a misunderstanding of what you said, your first reaction (and how it was paraphrased) seemed to imply you meant to minimize the aggresors faulf hence why my reaction was that and probably those downvoting it