The FBI classifies the Annunciation mass shooting as a hate crime. Jessica Hodge, associate professor of justice and peace studies, spoke to MPR News about the terminology and its reasoning.
From the interview:
Here to explain how officials might look at defining the crime and why they might do so is Jessica Hodge. She's a professor of justice and society studies at the University of St. Thomas.
NINA MOINI: This isn’t the first time an incident like this has happened. And there’s been a lot of debate about talking about what is a hate crime and what is it legally versus just how people feel about it. Would you describe or define for us what constitutes a hate crime, I guess, at the legal level?
JESSICA HODGE: Sure. Yes, what classifies as a hate crime, it really comes down to the motive, what the agenda was motivating the incident or the attack. Hate crimes are typically under the jurisdiction of the state. States have their own statutes in place to address hate crimes. And these statutes vary by state. For example, many states like Minnesota have what we call a penalty enhancement statute that outlines how someone may receive an enhanced penalty if they are found guilty of a crime motivated by hate.
And under the different state statutes, different categories, specific categories are included as protected categories. And these categories also vary by state. These may include identities such as race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, et cetera.
