In most democracies if you shoot and kill a Christian for being a Christian it is considered a hate crime. A religious hate crime. As you would expect the same is true if you shoot a Jew for being Jewish or a Muslim for being a Muslim. If you shoot someone because of their religious views then you should be subject to the full force of the law and face hate crime and murder charges.
What happens in Indianola, America, if a 16-year old boy is shot and killed for being an atheist. Does that count as a hate crime? In this case; no.
Surprised? I am.
This is a very sad story, which you can read about on the blog DM in the PM as the alleged murderer is a 14 year old boy.
Tessa Gottbehuet an Carly Money, both also 14, are two witnesses. They describes the alleged murderer as “deeply religious”. They made it clear that he was prone to “loud discussions when faced with people who didn’t share his beliefs.”
A thread has sprung to life at Reddit which outlines how the judge is treating the case.
The Reddit post claims Judge Richard B. Clogg doens’t consider this to be a case of religious hate. The result? Even if he’s found guilty the alleged murderer would only serve 3 years in jail because of his age.
In Pure Spirit
What do you think? Is this a case of a religious hate crime? Or is the judge right?
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