Hate Crimes and The Other Kind

Huh?

Forgive me. I am not on the cutting edge of criminal behavior or the classification of crime. I apologize. Here is the official definition of crime from Miriam-Webster; Definition of crime

1: an illegal act for which someone can be punished by the government especially : a gross violation of law

2: a grave offense especially against morality

3: criminal activity; efforts to fight crime

4: something reprehensible, foolish, or disgraceful. It's a crime to waste good food.

Okay, so now that we have that straight let me just share with you that I am confused. The above offenses sound hateful to me. Illegal. Violation. Offense. Criminal. Reprehensible. So, why is there a big push to classify some crimes as “hate” crimes?

Are there love crimes? If someone is so jealous when they catch their spouse in bed with another and shoot their loved one, is this a love crime? Is there less of a penalty because it was done with raging jealous love? A person is just as dead, whether killed with love or hate, no matter how classified.

Crime is crime. Intent or feelings are irrelevant if the end result is the same. To the victim anyway. Here is the definition of hate crime from Miriam-Webster

Definition of hate crime: any of various crimes (such as assault or defacement of property) when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (such as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation)

So…if you are a victim of a crime, any crime, it is a hate crime. Isn’t all crime motivated by hostility? Help me out here, my criminal friends. I looked up love crime. Here is what Miriam-Webster had to say.

“Love Crime”

The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above.

Dang. One could literally lose their mind trying to figure this out. I guess if there is malice aforethought then it makes the crime much worse. Really, criminal intent, no matter the outcome, is just BAD. If a white woman gets attacked, is it considered a hate crime? Because she was white? When Asians started being mindlessly attacked at the start of Covid, they called it hate crimes because the mindless idiots who attacked them, well, attacked people who were Asian.

I think categorizing crime by placing the word “hate” in front of it is ridiculous. No matter the intent of the persuasion of intended victims, criminal behavior is criminal behavior. I am an equal opportunity locker-upper. I don’t care about the thought process of the criminal. I just want them off the street. There is good and there is evil. Pick a side.