In order to prove a hate crime, there must be hate (duh) and an actual crime (double duh). Well at least that’s how it should be. A teenager in Illinois was hit with 2 felony hate crime charges because he posted a mildly offensive ad on Craig’s List. Yes, you read that correctly, 2 felonies for something that didn’t involve violence or even the threat of violence. We’re defiantly getting into “thought crime” territory here.
Here’s a really dumb thing from MyCentralOregon.com:
An Illinois teen has been arrested for a hate crime for allegedly placing a racist ad on Craigslist that included a photo of an African American classmate.
Authorities allege that the student took a photograph of a classmate while at school on Nov. 14 and then posted an ad on Craigslist with the photograph and caption “Slave for sale,” police said.
The ad also included an offensive racial slur, officials said.
As opposed to an inoffensive racial slur?
“Every single person deserves the right to feel safe and welcome in our community, and this department will continue to strive to make that a reality by thoroughly investigating any allegations of hate crimes and bringing those found responsible to justice,” said Naperville Chief of Police Robert Marshall.
“Hate crimes have no place in our society and will not be tolerated in DuPage County. Anyone, regardless of age, accused of such disgraceful actions will be charged accordingly,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin.
And they weren’t kidding. This teenager, who hasn’t been identified, was arrested and hauled into court where he was charged with two counts of felony hate crime and one count of disorderly conduct. Really, they threw in disorderly conduct for placing an ad?
Okay, I’m at a loss. Where is the crime here? I get it that this ad was offensive and racist, but as Americans we have the 1st Amendment right to express horrible ideas and opinions. It’s not even a crime to use a racist slur as long as it isn’t attached to a threat.
And this was not a threat, it was a poor attempt at humor. If shitty jokes were a crime all liberal comedians would be serving life sentences for bombing on a regular basis. Sarah Silverman would be on death row if this were a thing.
I feel like the prosecutor will have to prove that the unnamed teen, who is presumably white, actually intended to sell his black classmate into slavery to make this stick. This of course will be impossible to prove so in all probability these felony hate crime charges were to show how tough on racism local authorities are.
Prosecutors might be better off filing a false advertising complaint but 2 felony hate crimes and a disorderly conduct is ridiculous.
If the ACLU weren’t so full of crap, this is exactly the kind of case they should take up. They however are too busy trying to magically transform women into men and can’t be bothered standing up for someone’s 1st Amendment right to be an asshole.
