Portland. Charlottesville. Salt Lake City.
What do these cities have in common? They have all experienced recent public attacks motivated by hate. In Portland, a white nationalist stabbed two men who were defending two young women against his anti-Muslim tirade on a city train. In Charlottesville, a man drove his car into a crowd of peaceful protestors protesting against a white nationalist rally.
In Salt Lake City, white nationalists posted posters on the University of Utah campus that cited to unverified crime statistics and declared, “Stop the blacks.” Similar posters were also found at Weber State University.
Crimes motivated by hate relating to race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin or disability should be prosecuted with the severity they deserve. But Utah’s current hate crime statute is limited to misdemeanor crimes and does not include a list of protected groups.
That’s why efforts have been made in recent years to pass hate-crime legislation with actual bite – a step up in charges for prosecution and a list of protected groups including “ancestry, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion or sexual orientation.”
Former state Sen. Steve Urquhart tried to pass a hate crimes bill in 2016. He condemned The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for killing the bill by not supporting it.
Earlier this year Sen. Daniel Thatcher attempted to pass a similar bill, but it didn’t even receive a committee hearing. He called his bill a “victim selection” bill instead of a hate crimes bill in an effort to overcome opponents’ claim that prosecutors can’t prove hate.
Sen. Thatcher intends to introduce his bill again in the 2018 legislative session, and hopefully he will be successful this time. West Jordan just increased his chances by passing a resolution against criminals deliberately targeting victims because of their membership in certain groups.
State prosecutors need a tool to prosecute hate crimes. We don’t criminalize thought in America. But when hateful thought turns to hateful violence, criminals should be punished. Utah law should be strong enough to deter such activity and protect minority populations against hate crimes.
Few would argue that the events in Charlottesville, Portland, and even Salt Lake City are instances of domestic terrorism. Under the U.S. Patriot Act a crime constitutes domestic terrorism if it is intended to “intimidate or coerce a civilian population” or “to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.” To hurt one person in a way that threatens others like them is what terrorists do.
We don’t want terrorists in Utah.
