Comments on Man Charged With Hate Crime For Allegedly Threatening to Burn Down Autistic Child's Home

Hate crime? soon, some what I post on slog will be considered hate crime.

What the hell is wrong with people?

Was this before or after the Michael Savage broadcast telling autistic kids to quit acting?

no one likes to be stared at. if his rent had been $750/month, i bet the spinning without the staring would have been ok.

"hate crime" seems like a stretch.

BA, some of what you post on Slog has been considered hate crime from the very beginning.

If the guy had balls he would have burned the house down without warning the family: with the family locked in side.

This guys a real dirtbag for sure, but was any crime committed? I know stories of people being mercilessly verbally harassed that still aren't protected by the legal system.

"pay[s] $1,000 a month rent and shouldn’t have to see that idiot spinning around and staring at my house.”

Sick situation, but this made me laugh...

Fnarf, i mean a prosecutable hate crime, not the imaginary ones that people make up because they are offended with my misanthropic opinions on groups of people.

Hate crime? Since when is being retarded a race?

My little brother has autism. He is not an idiot or retarded but sometimes he gets "stuck." Then he needs to do what his brain is telling him - repeat, repeat, repeat. He can't help it and really, it's not that annoying. You just learn to live with it.

@9, I think you and kesh are due for a love crime. Right?

@10,

Not all hate crimes are race related. If the law says that people with disabilities are a protected class, then hate crimes can be committed against them too.

I also don't see how violent threats can possibly be legal.

Another fine example of the misuse of our BROKEN legal system. Granted the man is a fucktard and should have his tongue cut out by a proctologist but even I with my high school education can recognize the fact that this isnt a HATE CRIME.

Well, this guy is clearly an asshole, but I certainly wouldn't classify this as a hate crime.

i think it is a crime to threaten to burn someone's house down... the "hate" element was his own doing for choosing to mention the group this kid happened to belong to.

so it's a crime. and it's a hate crime because of the intoxicated gentleman's word choice.

uh, this guy threatened to burn someone's house down...it doesn't matter if they're brown, green, gay, autistic or Stevie Nicks. He made a terroristic threat.

Choose your words carefully next time you get drunk and antagonistic, folks.

i have to add something: in my post @16 i'm speaking legally.

in actually, it wasn't his choice of words that makes him guilty.

what makes him guilty is that he dislikes an autistic kid enough (because the kid is autistic) that he wants to burn down the kid's house. hate crime laws are made to protect us from people like this. he may not have even threatened to burn down the house if the kid wasn't autistic.

i'm not sure how frequently they charge people who only threaten to burn down houses (without the hate element)... but if they do at all, then they should in this case. and then the hate element is relevant.

Question: If I say that I hate people who committ hate crimes is that a hate crime?

@ the edge of 17...brilliant.

@ 17... It matters if it is Stevie Nicks. Oh, it matters mightily.

@20 no, because people who commit hate crimes are not a protected group. nor do they require special protection. i get the feeling, however, that you are just making a point/joke similar to the old, "what about being intolerant of the intolerant" line...

He won't actually be prosecuted unless they can prove he had a clear intention to make good on his threat. Running you're mouth like an idiot USUALLY doesn't get you much.

I do believe, however, he should be badly beaten for this while he's in lockup.

I adore Stevie Nicks.

Her name sounded funny in the context of the sentence. I was also toying with "Swoosie Kurtz".

This is an amazing story. Where in Seattle is this guy able to rent a HOUSE for $1000? I'm speechless.

#26 - maybe that's why the kid is always staring at the house. "Really? Just $1,000 for three bedrooms?"

Dougsf,

I was thinking "Hmmm, he's been charged with a hate crime, I bet the landlord will evict him...for a thousand bucks I could live with the autistic neighbor kid. What was that address again?"

This makes me sick. Physically ill. This is stretching the law in a way that I can't support.

I would never vote republican, but keep up this shit and I'd think twice.

The man is a violent drunk and should be prosecuted for something other than a hate crime.

@29: Exactly what is it about this story that makes you want to vote Republican? I don't recall ever hearing Barack Obama or John McCain commenting about this story.

BTW, autism is hell. Take it from the RainMan.

So Mr. Spangenthal-Lee I see you are highlighting hate crime charges that use terms such as "fucking retarded" as an epithet. Is it accurate to infer that you have reconsidered your own use of the word "retarded"? If so congratulations on gaining a bit of awareness.

Nope, LMSW, it's not.

Hate crimes are designed to protect specific groups of people historically discriminated against to an extreme extent. If you cannot walk outside your front door without the fear of being threatened, taunted, made fun of, harmed,and are classified by subgroups of society as being worthless because of some arbitrary standard beyond your control, then perhaps you need to have extra protection under the law against those types actions. We all have a right to feel free and safe, most especially those without voices of their own. After viewing all the posts, obviously hate crime status should remain for crimes and threats aimed at disabled children and their families. So many of you have the nieve notion that it is fun or funny to call children with neurological disorders "retards" and to threaten them and their families for the biological condition of their bodies.
Can you imagine being that mom and having your beloved child threatened with death and taunted by the neighbors because of their dysfunctioning body? I can!