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Last year on the Fourth of July, three men, shouting racial slurs, ambushed, chased and beat a 24-year-old African-American man as he left a Wal-Mart in Nampa, Idaho. Now, two of the men have been convicted of hate crimes by a federal jury in Boise. The third earlier pleaded guilty, and testified against the other two; the two just convicted, Michael Bullard, 22, of Middleton, Idaho, and Richard Armstrong, 24, of Nampa, face up to 20 years in federal prison for the attack/Betsy Russell, SR. More here.
Question: Do you think Idaho’s laws are tough enough on hate crimes?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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redman on July 23 at 1:39 p.m.
There should be no hate crimes, a crime is a crime regardless of what one hates.
toadman on July 23 at 1:53 p.m.
Every crime is a hate crime, Red.
LukeB on July 23 at 2:02 p.m.
I doubt idiots like these guys are deterred by any laws, much less hate crime laws.
redman on July 23 at 4:04 p.m.
toadman I can agree with you on that. Nice name calling luke, idiot…. what an orgional word. Yea, me and the toadman are real renegades. lol
redman on July 23 at 4:06 p.m.
You know LukeB you might have committed a HATE crime by calling me an Idiot. Do you hate idiots Luke? thats ok “IF YOU HAVE HATE ON YOUR HEART, LET IT OUT.”
spokelooneh on July 23 at 4:11 p.m.
Jeeze, calm down Redman. Luke was obviously talking about the perps. Everything’s not about you.
spokelooneh on July 23 at 4:19 p.m.
These were federal charges, but what I’m wondering is what is the status of state or local charges? From the circumstances as described, these guys should be up on a charge of attempted murder:
“As he left the store, Bullard asked him, “What country do you think you’re in?” and flicked his cigarette at the man. The three attackers then chased their victim across the parking lot, tackled him, and then punched and kicked him until he was unconscious.”
DFO on July 23 at 4:20 p.m.
@ RedMan; I read LukeB’s comment to be pointed toward the two individuals involved in the hate crime. Not you. Usually, I don’t like the word “idiot” to crop up at all in the comments threads, whether it’s aimed at a generic target or another poster. Someone always gets poked when that happens. However, in this case, it may be appropriate since these two individuals have actually been convicting of a hate crime. Obviously, idiocy is in full bloom if you follow their actions. They shouted racial slurs, ambushed, chased and beat a 24-year-old African-American man as he left a Wal-Mart in Nampa. They deserve what they get. On the other hand, this misunderstanding goes to show why I don’t like any name-calling here.
redman on July 23 at 4:23 p.m.
OK, OK., my bad LukeB I read into that all wrong then, my tail is between my legs and I am running home at a fast pace. He was calling the hate crimers (criminals) idiots ahhhh.
Fishwife on July 24 at 8:45 a.m.
Did the local Canyon County prosecutor refuse to prosecute the case? If so, why? Why did the federal prosecutors need to step in?