LAPD Chief William Bratton
"Hey, I got it!"
Today comes the announcement by LAPD Chief, William Bratton that he sees a likely race motive behind all the gang killings in Los Angeles (which generally involve Latino gangs vs black gangs.) This is in the wake of a recent killing of a young black who was apparently mistaken for a gang member by Latino gang members.
Bratton stated to the press that he suspected race as a motive, but "couldn't prove it". He added that he would "like to prove it". You know, I suspect that 2+2=4, but I can't prove it-though I sure would like to.
Apparently, the scales have fallen from the eyes of the politically-minded chief, who has teamed with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to throw his own officers under the bus when they lay their hands on rock-throwing illegal aliens. In the past, Bratton told folks who object to the city providing protection and services to illegal aliens that, if they didn't like it, they could leave.
I have a couple of questions for Chief Bratton:
How many gang-related shootings involving the murder of blacks by Latinos or murder of Latinos by blacks did it take for you to realize their might be a racial component here-in effect "hate crime"?
How many similar violent attacks in California prisons did it take for you to see a nexus?
Up until now, Chief Bratton and the politically correct crowd at City Hall have been deluding themselves that hate crimes were the province of whites committing violence against minorities. Really? Is there a street gang up there in LA called the "Fighting Whiteys"? Or how about those "Rainbow Coalition" gangs that exist nowhere but in Hollywood?
Seriously though, I have a number of reservations about hate crime statutes, especially since I think we should punish the act and leave the motive as an element of proof. I also think that these crimes are being applied unfairly-specifically in that the perpetrator must be white and the victim a minority. The fact is that race-based attacks can be committed across all racial lines. They are all equally wrong.
The point is that it serves no one and no particular racial community to color the facts. We have a serious criminal problem in this country, and it needs to be addressed openly and honestly.
Ironically, one of the textbook examples of how to handle a true racially-motivated murder was the James Byrd case in Jasper, Texas. (Three white men brutally murdered a black man for no sensible reason-just because they wanted to kill a black man.) In that case, the killers were quickly arrested, prosecuted and two were condemned to death. The third got life only because he testified against the other two.
And that was without the presence of a hate crime statute in Texas.
Meanwhile the community of Jasper quickly came together to condemn the crime and denounce hatred. When Jesse Jackson came to town to "start the healing process"- his term for stoking the fires, black leaders told him he was not needed. Unfortunately,
activists subsequently got to members of Byrd's family, using them to make anti-Bush commercials based on his lack of support for hate crime legislation in Texas.
But I digress. The gang situation in Los Angeles is critical and must be dealt with. Chief Bratton's statement comes belatedly, but might represent a first step. I suspect, however, that he might just be floating a cautious trial balloon.
No comments:
Post a Comment