A hate crime is specifically crime that was motivated by hate for that group. Getting into a fight about something unrelated to that isn't a hate crime, whether or not you knew they were a member of that group ahead of time.
this post was submitted on 26 May 2025
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Not nitpick but first of all great answer. no sarcasm. But if I go into a known nazi/skinhead bar and start fighting them because they are Nazi's is that a hate crime? Even though their whole thing is hate, we fought a war against them, and are generally despised?
Nazis are not a protected class yet.
yet
💀
No, it's not a protected characteristic because being a nazi isn't innate.
Generally speaking, hate crimes are only applicable to crimes motivated by a hatred for an immutable trait. Social or political ideology isn't immutable, so it wouldn't be protected.
I thought being religiously motivated also would qualify as a hate crime? Or is the implication that one's religion is also immutable?
That's a good point; I had overlooked that as a category. That said, it is sort of the odd one out in terms of "immutable traits" (notwithstanding Jews specifically, at least when referring to ethnicity rather than religion).
Hate crimes are usually not solo charges. They're add-ons to regular criminal violence. It's similar to how selling drugs is a crime, but also selling drugs near a school is a separate charge. You would never be charged with selling drugs near a school but not charged for selling drugs.
As others have said. No you shouldn't be charged with a hate crime. You didn't know they were gay.
But let's be honest when do facts like that matter when it comes to prosecutors that just want a win in the court room. So they might just charge you with the hate crime and destroy your name publicly. Then ask if you'd like a plea deal before it goes further.
You may still be depending on how the story is spun, but you shouldn't be. Hate crimes are motivated by the prejudice
This is one of many reasons I just don’t get in fights to begin with.
The standard of proof to prosecute a hate crime is higher than that of assault and battery.
It isn't impossible to have a hate crime tagged onto a fight, but if there's no supporting evidence, chances are lower, and if there's evidence the fight was about something else, lower still.
Like, if you're yelling at the asshole about spilling your beer, and then it turns into a fight, you'd have to fuck up to have the hate charge added on. If you had a history of bigotry to whatever class that person is, or something along those lines.
I'm not saying you couldn't run into a prosecutor with an axe to grind or whatever, but it is less common
If you get into a fight with someone and don't know they are gay, palestinian or jewish, then it shouldn't be possible to commit a hate crime in that scenario unless if it's based on something else that you do know