Is this a "Hate crime"?

MrBrianMrBrian Posts: 2,672
edited December 2006 in A Moving Train
China executes farmer for crime spree against BMW owners


Beijing, Dec 15: A poor rural migrant worker who resented wealthy people with BMW cars has been executed in Beijing after being convicted of a robbery and extortion spree that left one woman dead.

Pang Maosheng, 29, had a particular loathing for BMW drivers, prosecutors told Beijing's No 1 Intermediate People's Court.

"After reading so many reports about hit and run cases committed by BMW drivers, I became resentful of BMW sedan owners and drivers and was eager to teach them a lesson," Pang said during interrogation.

With this bizarre rationale, Pang came to Beijing in 2004 and lived at a friend's place.

He had no job and spent most of his time surfing the Internet, from which he learned about his first victim, a man identified by the surname Du.

After he watched Du, who drove a BMW, Pang concluded Du must be rich. One day in December 2004, Pang stalked Du and his wife and followed them to their home in Haidian District.

Pang robbed the couple at knifepoint, stealing 70,000 yuan (8,750 US dollars), beginning a wave of robberies and extortion attempts in Beijing. On the night of December 26, last year, Pang stopped a woman who had just arrived home alone in a Honda sedan in Haidian and stabbed her to death
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http://www.newkerala.com/news4.php?action=fullnews&id=66849

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I've seen some debates on the M Train about what a "hate crime" is and the differences between a so called "hate crime" and just a normal(?) crime which at it's core still can be hate based.

So what happened in china, can it fall under "hate crime"?
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Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    I guess it would be. By definition. A hate crime is a crime done out of discrimination. By definition. Discrimination is related to race, origin, social status, gender, age, and I'm sure some others too. In Canada anyway.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • Uncle LeoUncle Leo Posts: 1,059
    There are a million vague ways to answer that.

    1. It's in China. I don't think China has Hate Crimes (HC) legislation.

    2. I guess it depends on whether the "hate" has to be for racial/sexual orientation/religious/etc. reasons. If this counts as a hate crime then all crimes are hate crimes. I could hate my boss for making more money than me. I could hate you for being better looking than me.*** I could hate taller people or shorter people.

    3. In the US, it would not legally be recognized as a hate crime.

    4. Pracitally or morally speaking, I guess is in the eye of the beholder.

    Is this post meant to weaken the argument for hate crimes legislation? It should lead to questions that would do just that.


    ***In theory, that is. You are not better looking than me.
    I cannot come up with a new sig till I get this egg off my face.
  • MrBrianMrBrian Posts: 2,672
    In the US do people get a harsher punishment if the crime they committed falls under a hate crime? If that's the case, I think it's very wrong.

    I dunno, I just don't quite get the hate crime legislation.
  • El_KabongEl_Kabong Posts: 4,141
    MrBrian wrote:
    In the US do people get a harsher punishment if the crime they committed falls under a hate crime? If that's the case, I think it's very wrong.

    I dunno, I just don't quite get the hate crime legislation.


    i believe they do
    standin above the crowd
    he had a voice that was strong and loud and
    i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
    eager to identify with
    someone above the crowd
    someone who seemed to feel the same
    someone prepared to lead the way
  • MrBrian wrote:
    In the US do people get a harsher punishment if the crime they committed falls under a hate crime? If that's the case, I think it's very wrong.

    I dunno, I just don't quite get the hate crime legislation.

    If you understand why most convicted child molesters are made to publically register as sex offenders (whereas most convicted rapists of adults are not), then you should understand why we have hate crime laws.

    There's a difference between burning down a restaurant, and burning down the town church. These crimes fall under the same category of arson, but they are 2 different cases. One is much more likely to cause great concern and fear amongst a large portion of the community. And when people are angry and afraid, they do dramatic and foolish things like riot and create lynch mobs. This leads to even more problems.

    By giving special status to the criminal (not the victim), hate crime laws make sense, and they protect everyone. Look at the statistics. You'll find that everyone is a potential victim.
  • MrBrian wrote:
    In the US do people get a harsher punishment if the crime they committed falls under a hate crime? If that's the case, I think it's very wrong.

    I dunno, I just don't quite get the hate crime legislation.

    id say if youre white and its a hate crime you get punished more-even for minor things

    blacks and "minorities"are allowed to spout hate more and probably get more lienet setences except the south-but im not very sure

    i think mexicans are getting off easy or so says alex jones on radio
  • MrBrianMrBrian Posts: 2,672
    Saturnal wrote:
    If you understand why most convicted child molesters are made to publically register as sex offenders (whereas most convicted rapists of adults are not), then you should understand why we have hate crime laws.

    There's a difference between burning down a restaurant, and burning down the town church. These crimes fall under the same category of arson, but they are 2 different cases. One is much more likely to cause great concern and fear amongst a large portion of the community. And when people are angry and afraid, they do dramatic and foolish things like riot and create lynch mobs. This leads to even more problems.

    By giving special status to the criminal (not the victim), hate crime laws make sense, and they protect everyone. Look at the statistics. You'll find that everyone is a potential victim.

    After I made this thread last night I started to really wonder about this question (regarding hate crimes) and I have come to a conclusion.

    The Hate Crime Legislation is a sign of a very insecure society, a crime is greater when it is perpetrated towards one group of people over another even if the crime itself is identical.

    It's for people who put other people into classes then judge them, the person who burned down another persons restaurant get's a lighter sentance because he was'nt screaming "nigger" while doing it. yeah, makes sense.
  • it's an issue of doing something to someone based on something that they cannot, theoretically, control...like race...a more severe punishment is warranted, so say those in the know, is because doing something to someone for something which they cannot control is an aggravating factor...sort of like alcohol being a mitigating factor...

    so, i say what happened in china, is not a hate crime...
    MrBrian wrote:
    China executes farmer for crime spree against BMW owners


    Beijing, Dec 15: A poor rural migrant worker who resented wealthy people with BMW cars has been executed in Beijing after being convicted of a robbery and extortion spree that left one woman dead.

    Pang Maosheng, 29, had a particular loathing for BMW drivers, prosecutors told Beijing's No 1 Intermediate People's Court.

    "After reading so many reports about hit and run cases committed by BMW drivers, I became resentful of BMW sedan owners and drivers and was eager to teach them a lesson," Pang said during interrogation.

    With this bizarre rationale, Pang came to Beijing in 2004 and lived at a friend's place.

    He had no job and spent most of his time surfing the Internet, from which he learned about his first victim, a man identified by the surname Du.

    After he watched Du, who drove a BMW, Pang concluded Du must be rich. One day in December 2004, Pang stalked Du and his wife and followed them to their home in Haidian District.

    Pang robbed the couple at knifepoint, stealing 70,000 yuan (8,750 US dollars), beginning a wave of robberies and extortion attempts in Beijing. On the night of December 26, last year, Pang stopped a woman who had just arrived home alone in a Honda sedan in Haidian and stabbed her to death
    ----

    http://www.newkerala.com/news4.php?action=fullnews&id=66849

    ----

    I've seen some debates on the M Train about what a "hate crime" is and the differences between a so called "hate crime" and just a normal(?) crime which at it's core still can be hate based.

    So what happened in china, can it fall under "hate crime"?
    ----
    I'll dig a tunnel
    from my window to yours
  • MrBrian wrote:
    After I made this thread last night I started to really wonder about this question (regarding hate crimes) and I have come to a conclusion.

    The Hate Crime Legislation is a sign of a very insecure society, a crime is greater when it is perpetrated towards one group of people over another even if the crime itself is identical.

    It's for people who put other people into classes then judge them, the person who burned down another persons restaurant get's a lighter sentance because he was'nt screaming "nigger" while doing it. yeah, makes sense.

    It is not a sign of an insecure society, it's a sign of an extremely diverse one. We have to deal with society realistically, not idealogically. In a different society maybe burning down a restaurant and burning down a church would yeild the exact same response from the community...but that doesn't typcially happen in this society.

    Burning down a church and burning down a reastaurant are not identical. The criminal in the church burning would be charged with arson, which would yield the same penalty as the criminal who burned the restaurant. However, the criminal who burned down the church may also be convicted of a hate crime which carries its own penalty. There is no "lighter sentence" for the criminal who burned down the restaurant...that criminal simply committed one crime, not two.

    And it's also funny how every time we have this conversation on this board, it always comes down to someone saying "I bet the black guy wouldn't get slapped with a stupid hate crime!". That just convinces me more that we need hate crime laws.
  • jeffbrjeffbr Posts: 7,177
    MrBrian wrote:
    After I made this thread last night I started to really wonder about this question (regarding hate crimes) and I have come to a conclusion.

    The Hate Crime Legislation is a sign of a very insecure society, a crime is greater when it is perpetrated towards one group of people over another even if the crime itself is identical.

    It's for people who put other people into classes then judge them, the person who burned down another persons restaurant get's a lighter sentance because he was'nt screaming "nigger" while doing it. yeah, makes sense.


    I agree with you. Here are a couple of threads from the past couple of weeks dealing with this topic:

    http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=226209
    http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=224667
    "I'll use the magic word - let's just shut the fuck up, please." EV, 04/13/08
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