If these crimes are not being reported.... What do you call the original OP article. From a CBS affiliate no less? I have seen this story several times in the last couple of days on several different news outlets. Stop manufacturing outrage gbrk. It's just ridiculous when the evidence against what you are saying is RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE.
Why do we have separate definitions for crimes? Black on White, Black on Black, White on Black, White on White? Why is it not just crime?
The only time it makes sense to call it anything else but crime is when racism is actually the motive for the crime. Like the murder of James Byrd Jr. The man whose death was the catalyst for the current hate crime laws.
On June 7, 1998, Byrd, age 49, accepted a ride from Shawn Berry (age 24), Lawrence Russell Brewer (age 31) and John King (age 23). Berry, who was driving, was acquainted with Byrd from around town. Instead of taking Byrd home, the three men took Byrd to a remote county road out of town, beat him severely, urinated on him and chained him by his ankles to their pickup truck before dragging him for approximately 1.5 miles. Brewer later claimed that Byrd's throat had been slashed by Berry before he was dragged. However, forensic evidence suggests that Byrd had been attempting to keep his head up while being dragged, and an autopsy suggested that Byrd was alive during much of the dragging. Byrd died after his right arm and head were severed when his body hit a culvert.[10] Byrd's brain and skull were found intact, further suggesting he maintained consciousness while being dragged.[11]
Berry, Brewer and King dumped their victim's mutilated remains in front of an African-American church on Huff Creek Road; the three men then went to a barbecue. Along the area where Byrd was dragged, authorities found a wrench with "Berry" written on it. They also found a lighter that was inscribed with "Possum", which was King's prison nickname.[12] The following morning, Byrd's limbs were found scattered across a seldom-used road. The police found 81 places that were littered with Byrd's remains. State law enforcement officials, along with Jasper's District Attorney, determined that since Brewer and King were well-known white supremacists, the murder was a hate crime. They decided to call upon the Federal Bureau of Investigation less than 24 hours after the discovery of Byrd's remains.[citation needed]
King had several racist tattoos: a black man hanging from a tree, **** symbols, the words "Aryan Pride," and the patch for a gang of white supremacist inmates known as the Confederate Knights of America.[13] In a jailhouse letter to Brewer that was intercepted by jail officials, King expressed pride in the crime and said that he realized while committing the murder that he might have to die. "Regardless of the outcome of this, we have made history. Death before dishonor. Sieg Heil!" King wrote.[10] An officer investigating the case also testified that witnesses said that King had referenced The Turner Diaries after beating Byrd.[14]
Berry, Brewer and King were tried and convicted for Byrd's murder. Brewer and King received the death penalty, while Berry was sentenced to life in prison. Brewer was executed by lethal injection on September 21, 2011[3] while King remains on Texas' death row.[4][5][6]
