Chlorine Gas Attack

[Gravekeeper]

Well, it's not a hate crime as furry is not a race, religion, gender, etc. If we define this as a hate crime then we have to define pretty much everything as a hate crime.

Also, I mistakenly read the comments on one of these articles and in doing so witnessed an argument no rational mind should ever have to endure. >.>

[Andara Bledin]

Per Wikipedia (I know, not the most reliable, but more than enough for this purpose):

In both crime and law, hate crime (also known as bias-motivated crime) is a usually violent, prejudice motivated crime that occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group.

Just because being a furry isn't a protected status doesn't remove the fact that it is a distinct social group, especially as the site of the attack was an event for the social group in question.

That said, most law enforcement agencies and groups will only consider cases that involve legally protected statuses. So, if we're just dealing with legal ramifications, you're correct: this won't be pursued as a hate crime purely due to the fact that purely social groups don't get protection (though I bet they'd land hard on someone that did this to a political convention).

[Gravekeeper]

Just because being a furry isn't a protected status doesn't remove the fact that it is a distinct social group, especially as the site of the attack was an event for the social group in question.

That's just splitting hairs though. Its pretty clear what the purpose of the term hate crime is. I highly doubt there is a legal system on the planet that considers a leisure social group a protected status. Especially one that in essence is centered around wardrobe. I mean tt can't really be a hate crime if it's not legally a hate crime.

That said, this caused the evacuation of thousands of people from the building using a chemical agent from WW2. So what this essentially is from a legal perspective is terrorism.

[Andara Bledin]

Yeah, furry isn't centered around "wardrobe." Transvestites, however, actually are centered around wardrobe and are, I believe, covered by the law.

A banned chemical agent, no less. Yeah, not a hair to be split on the terrorism claim.

[s_stabeler]

You're actually both right. From a legal perspective- that is, that would allow prosecution as a hate crime- in the united states, it has to be a protected class. However, "hate crime" is normally used to refer to an attempt to attack a distinct group- i.e. in this case, the attack was because they were furries- meaning that while it's not legally protected, it is the same mindset. ( put it this way. If the victims were from a protected class, it'd be a hate crime, correct? then in such a case, it's not inappropiate to refer to it as a hate crime)

Oh, and croatia actually does have a law that covers furries, albeit not specifically ( they have an "other attribute" provision) Hungary specifically mentions social groups as being a protected class, so thye would treat it as a hate crime too. Canada also comes close- "other similar factor"- Chilie covers appearance, so it's arguable.

in short, there are a few places where you actualyl probably could prosecute it as a hate crime.

[Gravekeeper]

Yeah, furry isn't centered around "wardrobe." Transvestites, however, actually are centered around wardrobe and are, I believe, covered by the law.

From the outward observer wardrobe is the identifier of the social group in question. I am not commenting on what furrydom is or is not. Only how it would be outwardly identified and thus targeted.

Oh, and croatia actually does have a law that covers furries, albeit not specifically ( they have an "other attribute" provision) Hungary specifically mentions social groups as being a protected class, so thye would treat it as a hate crime too. Canada also comes close- "other similar factor"- Chile covers appearance, so it's arguable.

I would bet good money that Croatia disagrees. Croatia is rife with homosexual discrimination / violence and only added gender identity as a protected class in 2013. Their laws are an attempt to begin combating that. For Hungary their hate crime laws do not actually say social group ( Wikipedia, yay. >< ). The wording actually only covers "national, ethnic, racial or religious group" and they have a problem even applying that to violence against Roma.

In Canada, the "Other similar factor" is used in reference to a specific range of classes protected under the charter. So its not a catch all.

Chile's laws are directly intended for and in response to anti-gay violence much like Croatia. Also, much like Croatia they were sadly only passed in 2012 after 7 years of sitting in congress and even that was only in response to the violent death of a gay man.

[Rapscallion]

I'd be inclined to consider the furry community as legally human and therefore protected by standard law from assault or attempted murder etc.

Rapscallion

[wolfie]

Someone at Ars gave a really good reason why hate crime is given extra weight: because the targets are an entire class of people, not just the specific target.

It's a form of terrorism and a greater burden on society than an attack on an individual.

Haven't read the Ars article, but my guess is the reasoning is similar to the following:

Thug beats up a guy in a fursuit.

1) Thug had seen the guy buy something, and that the victim had a lot of cash in his wallet. Beating was because furry guy didn't immediately hand over his wallet on demand. Motive for beating: thug wanted money. This is a simple robbery, and the fursuit was irrelevant.

2) Thug doesn't approve of things he sees as "deviant". Motive for beating: thug wanted to "teach the weirdo a lesson". This is a hate crime, in that if the victim had been wearing what most people in North America consider to be "normal street clothes" rather than a fursuit, he wouldn't have been attacked. The fact that the victim was wearing a fursuit was a key element in the crime.