It’s a pretty large snake… I think you’d be calling this one in.
After giving a ticket to someone, cop sees on of the person’s friends crumple up a “Back the Blue” flyer/sign that had been produced by his sherriff’s office and throwing it in the trash, while giving a smirk.
Cop arrested her and charged her with a misdemeanor ‘criminal mischief’ with a ‘hate crime’ enhancement.
“hate crime”? I would have said “freedom of speech”. I can see the misdemeanor charge if it was someone else’s paper sign, though.
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A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias.
Fits with the definition.
Wow, it’s worse than I imagined. The police officer doesn’t even know where she got the flier (her stories were “inconsistent”), to store owner said it wasn’t theirs, though. And the police officer charged her with a “hate crime”:
"Due to (the woman) destroying property that did not belong to her in a manner to attempt to intimidate law enforcement,
A police officer is intimidated by a woman crumpling or stomping on a paper flier? What kind of fragile violet is that police officer?
The relevant statue says:
The Utah hate crime statute for civil rights violations referred to in the charging documents says: “‘Intimidate or terrorize’ means an act which causes the person to fear for his physical safety or damages the property of that person or another. The act must be accompanied with the intent to cause or has the effect of causing a person to reasonably fear to freely exercise or enjoy any right secured by the Constitution or laws of the state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
I find it very very hard to imagine that the police officer was afraid of exercising his constitutional rights due to some person damaging a paper flier that said “support the police”.
I hope he gets charged with false arrest.
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Traditionally, FBI investigations of hate crimes were limited to crimes in which the perpetrators acted based on a bias against the victim’s race, color, religion, or national origin. In addition, investigations were restricted to those wherein the victim was engaged in a federally protected activity. With the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the Bureau became authorized to also investigate crimes committed against those based on biases of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or gender.
From the article you linked. I don’t think “job” is a hate crime category.
The Utah hate crime statute is a bit different, but it still doesn’t come close to fitting.
And, since that false arrest seems to be “accompanied with the intent to cause or has the effect of causing a person to reasonably fear to freely exercise or enjoy any right secured by the Constitution or laws of the state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” (namely, the right of free speech), maybe he should also be charged with a “hate crime.”
I have recently fallen down a rabbit hole of videos (that have been suggested to me by the geniuses behind the Youtube algorithms), specifically about police abusing their limited authority to search people after a traffic stop. Many people now have their cars equipped with cameras. The videos specifically explain that the cops cannot compel you to allow a complete search but they very very often will talk a driver into waiving his/her constitutional rights against illegal search through intimidation. Evidently, cops must be being trained to intimidate drivers as a regular matter of business.
You are required to give identification, registration, and insurance information. You are not required to talk to the police. You are not required to show the police anything that is not in plain sight (although concealed carry laws vary from state to state, so a particular state may require you to also inform the cop that you are legally carrying). Cops are not supposed to be allowed to force a search of the trunk or bags or glove boxes. They also are not allowed to detain you for any time amount in excess of the time it takes to write the ticket, so they cannot detain you for the time it takes to call in a drug sniffing dog. You are not required to converse with the cop so that the cop can judge that you are inebriated.
I saw a video of a woman pulled over for speeding. The passenger said one word (“Bullsh^t”) toward the cop and was arrested for disorderly conduct. He didn’t even yell/raise his voice when he said it.
Anyway, if you watch one video on youtube about this stuff, then YT will offer you up dozens more on the same subject.
Utah long put off passing a hate crime law and most people felt it was because they were racist, which it probably was. However, it turns out most hate crimes charged in Utah are against people committing hate crimes against those racist Mormons who wouldn’t pass the hate crimes law.
Who would have figured? And just to be clear, the majority of the hate crimes charges for hate crimes against LDS have seemed reasonable use of the law. Not that it probably couldn’t be used else where as well.
Company makes real gun that looks like it’s made of Lego. Just, why?
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In for a penny, in for a pound. Sheriff issues statement on deputy’s hate crime arrest.
So, the DA backed this ridiculous charge?
Wow. I guess I’ll be avoiding Utah. Shame, they have nice mountains and stuff. But much more dangerous politics than I realized.
Let me know when they start jailing scientists for not predicting earthquakes
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Is this in response to something wtf-worthy in the news, or just a prediction on your part?
I believe meep is referring to the Italian incident some years ago.
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It was in the olden AO – here’s a backgrounder:
Italian seismologists cleared of manslaughter | Nature.
The scientists had ended up in court as a consequence of botched communication in a highly stressed environment. In the months before the major earthquake struck, the region around L’Aquila had been subject to frequent, mostly low-magnitude tremors, known as seismic swarms. Residents were confused and increasingly alarmed by public statements made by a local amateur earthquake predictor, who said that he had evidence of an impending quake — although geologists dismissed his methods as unsound.
A commission of experts met on 31 March 2009 to assess the scientific evidence and advise the government. According to the prosecution, a press conference after that meeting — attended by the acting president of the commission, volcanologist Franco Barberi of the University of Rome ‘Roma Tre’, and by government official Bernardo De Bernardinis, then deputy director of the Italian Civil Protection Department — conveyed a reassuring message that a major earthquake was not on the cards.
…
As a consequence, according to the prosecution, when the earthquake struck on 6 April, 29 people chose to stay indoors instead of stepping outside as they otherwise would have done, and died as their homes collapsed. All seven members of the expert commission were found guilty of manslaughter in October 2012, after a 13-month trial that transfixed the international scientific community. (A Nature editorial criticized that verdict.)
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Not only backed, but they’ve previously convicted someone in a similar situation.
In 2020, Joseph Taft Dawson, 32, was arrested after he took a “Back the Blue” sign at a gas station and spray painted the word “bisexual” over the word “blue.” Dawson was charged and later convicted of criminal mischief with a hate crime enhancement, a class A misdemeanor. He served two days in jail.
Yeah, my thoughts on this matter probably aren’t suitable for this semi-professional forum.
I think I’ll just stick with WTF.
Anyway, looks like the ACLU is on the case.