Maryland teens charged with hate crimes for setting President Trump campaign sign on fire

[RhodeIslandOne]

Seriously?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/md-teens-charged-hate-crimes-setting-fire-trump-sign-article-1.3072707

Two Baltimore teenagers have been slammed with hate crime charges for setting fire to a President Trump campaign sign last week, officials said.

Joy Shuford and D'Asia Perry, both 19, are accused of lighting a "Make America Great Again" sign on fire in Princess Anne, a small town on Maryland's eastern coast, the state fire marshal's office said in a statement.

The sign, which also totes failed GOP Senate candidate Kathy Szeliga's name, was detected torched by authorities on Friday. Pictures show minor fire damage to the sign's bottom left corner.

The blaze apparently spread in the grass below the sign, causing an estimated $800-worth of damages, according to officials.

A Princess Anne officer justified the hate crime charge by ambiguously referencing the perpetrators' race.

"The intentional burning of these political signs, along with the beliefs, religious views and race of this political affiliation, directly coincides with the victim," the officer wrote in charging documents.

Fuck Princess Anne, MD....this does not rise to the level of a hate crime you idiots!

[msongs]

1. seems to me those charges were dropped in favor of ones just for destroying the sign

[kcr]

5. Why does it seem to you that they were dropped?

Do you have another source? Because it doesn't say that in the story.

[JCanete]

2. What? That is not a hate crime, and I'm pretty sure, aside from the arson, that effigies, etc.

are protected speech when it comes to public figures.

[PoliticAverse]

3. Prior DU discussion on the story here...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141757276

[Warpy]

4. When is it vandalism and when is it a hate crime?

This looks like vandalism to me. Put the little punks to work to pay the town back for the cost of putting the fire out and the sign owners for the cost of the sign.

This just doesn't rise to the level of swastikas on a temple, a dead pig heaved through a mosque window, or any random attack on a person who is different. Those are hate crimes.

This is vandalism.