This man is a father of four small children. If you were 5 or 6 years old, and saw three people attack your Daddy... you'd think maybe they were going to kill him or something... just think of that. My Dad caught a crackhead breaking into our house when I was about 13, and I remember how fast my heart was beating. I thought for sure he was gonna shoot my Dad.

Does anyone have a notion that this could be done by hipsters? Bike lane anger? Is that still brewing? Or something like that? It was in Williamsburg, and they said "I hate you" might mean "I hate Orthodox Jews"

Poor guy... I hope he quickly recovers and those little kids get their Dad back.

Only 4? They must only have been married a year so far.

hate crimes are thought crimes, after all if someone expresses a bias against g@ze or Jeewz while handing out a stomping and taking a wallet means that a significantly greater punishment is deserved, well then if someone stomps you out an takes your wallet while expressing love and support of your cultural ethnic or seecksual identity, doesnt that mean that they should have to serve a lesser sentence for expressing love as opposed to hate???????

Exactly. The idea of labeling crimes "hate crimes" seems pointless to me. Your punishment should fit your crime, not what you might have been thinking while you did it. And again, I ask - is it possible for three guys to beat the shit out of another guy and have it NOT be done in hate?

Your punishment should fit your crime, not what you might have been thinking while you did it.

I see. So if you intentionally run somebody over with your car in the parking lot outside their place of employment, that should be the same punishment as accidentally hitting somebody because you didn't see them. How do we know what's really an accident and what's not? That would require figuring out what they were thinking.

This shit is so remedial, it's just sad that people can't actually use their brains and figure it out before they say "durr, why do them funny-looking people get the special rights? It seems stooopid."

sorry thats comparing apples to oranges, see, you can hate someone, then confuse them and say you love them, then using the logic and evidence call it a love crime, after all nobody really says i hate you, they might insult and disparage during an assault, but a true psycho might claim love and support, then the victim would have to testify truthfully that he was told he was loved while being assaulted, then the DA will have to claim it was hate contrary to testimony.
then it becomes a thought crime indeed get it.

rent HEBREW HAMMER...
its genius.

I'm not Jewish, but maybe their needs to be some kind of kosher superhero who goes around stopping shit like this from happening. Maybe dressed up like a Hasid with a big black cape or something.

maybe he was beaten by people who hate media lies, amazingly the daily news print version has no photo but quotes "They rearranged his face, beating him beyond recognition"
guy in the photo looks fine to me. now thats fodder for the hate mongers.

fodder for hate mongers is proving the theory that there are two sets of laws....one for Jews..and another for non-Jews. A crime is a crime. My friends have been victims of crimes...and no one cared about the criminals racial-religious intentions. Unless the perp gives you a coke and a smile All Crimes are hate crimes.

All crimes are hate crimes...this is ridiculous! No one is told 'i love you' by a thief with a gun.

That's kind of my original point - Can three guys randomly beat the shit out of a guy walking down the street and have it NOT be motivated by some kind of hate? What does the distinction gain us in terms of justice?

Again, I understand the distinction that people have different motivations for their crimes, but why should the law care if it is "hate based"? I want the three criminals in this case to go to jail for assaulting an innocent man with no provocation. Even if you can prove the hate (in legal terms), how does that change the justice and punishment that needs to be done?

Hate crimes can only apply to a class of people who have special protections in the mind of liberals: Blacks, Gays, Hispanics, Lesbians and practioners of non-Western religions (other than Asians, that is.)

If you can't qualify for college admission or job protection under "Affirmative Action", or unless your ethnic/sexual/religious group has expressed undying political loyalty to the Democratic party -- that is to say, unless you're a governmental dependent in some fashion -- you're outta luck.

(other than Asians, that is.)

This is one of the particularly odd things about your latest rant. Where do you get off saying this?

One of the major events that inspired hate crime legislation was the beating death of a Chinese-American guy in Detroit in '82. remembering Vincent Chin

Aside from that, there's this bit of partisanship...

unless your ethnic/sexual/religious group has expressed undying political loyalty to the Democratic party

IIRC Republicans have pushed to add some of "their" own groups to anti-discrimination laws, including old people.

Also, on Planet Paula apparently there are no black or gay republicans.

Also we've got those domestic violence laws that unfairly protect women. Smacking your wife should be treated exactly the same as punching a Jets fan in a bar.

And don't get me started on those laws that coddle children.

You may not be Felix, but you're about as ignorant. Domestic violence laws are supposed to be for either gender, not just females.

Once again you ignore my point. Why is punching your partner treated differently from punching a stranger in a bar? Isn't it "the same thing"? Why are spouses a "protected class"?

And of course in the majority of domestic violence complaints the victims are women, always have been and probably always will be.

But they said, "We hate you." Isn't that the definition of hate crime?

I always thought the concept of hate crime was ridiculous for this very reason. If they catch the assholes who did this, they should prosecute 'em fully as vicious criminals. Why does what they said while they kicked his ass change the punishment? Do you get a lesser punishment if you're hateful, but quiet about it?

Maybe they know him and and really do hate HIM.

Why does what they said while they kicked his ass change the punishment?

What they say is taken as evidence for motivation. A "hate" crime is all about how you select your victim. If you wake up in the morning and say "today I think I'll beat up a random Asian person" then you are on your way to committing a hate crime. If you wake up and say "today I'm going to get Joey for screwing my girl" that is not the same.

Thus, there are cases when the language doesn't mean anything. If you attack Joey and call him an ethnic slur, but you really know him and you have some more specific motive, it's just regular assault.

So - if it turns out this guy was beaten over an unpaid loan or something, it doesn't matter that they said "we hate you."

Usually the perps also admit their motives under questioning or brag about it to their friends. (see "beaner hopping") What they say at the time is just one piece of evidence. Perhaps this is the kind of information that the cops and DA are waiting for.

Do you get a lesser punishment if you're hateful, but quiet about it?

Sometimes you can get away with a crime if you are quiet about it. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be a crime.