I am generally not a supporter of so-called hate crime laws that punish people more severely if the act the committed, which is already illegal, was motivated by ethnic, racial, or religious feelings. To me, it all seems rather pointless; if I’m dead, does it really matter whether the guy who did it hated me because I’m Catholic ? I don’t think so.
At that same time, if there is anything that deserves to be called a hate crime, it seems that this is most assuredly it.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The FBI has joined the investigation of a recent college graduate who faces attempted murder charges for allegedly injuring bystanders after driving a sport utility vehicle through a popular campus gathering spot.
No one was seriously hurt in the incident at the University of North Carolina on Friday.
The FBI joined the case because 22-year-old Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, a native of Iran, “allegedly made statements that he acted to avenge the American treatment of Muslims,” said agent Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman in Washington. “The ongoing investigation will work to confirm this.”
Taheri-azar, who graduated in December after studying psychology and philosophy, was in the custody of campus police. They intended to charge him with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, said police Capt. George Hare.
And the description of the incident certainly makes it clear that this was a deliberate, calculated act:
The incident happened just before noon near the center of campus in an area known as The Pit, a sunken, brick-paved area surrounded by two libraries, a dining hall and the student union.
“I see everyone kind of part because there’s a car coming through, and the next thing I know, I’m on his windshield,” sophomore Jeff Hoffman, his arm in a bandage, told The Daily Tar Heel, the campus newspaper.
The Pit is a center of campus activities, with students perched along walkways and steps. Friday’s noontime crowd included candidates for Black Student Movement elections.
“He slowly came in, and I thought he was going to stop or something,” sophomore Scott Wilson, a candidate, told the newspaper. “But then he sped right through.”
Michelle Malkin has more about this incident here and here.
H/T: Eugene Volokh
