When is a hate crime not officially a hate crime? A young African-American woman is burned over 90% of her body by three men in white hoodies, who then left racist grafitti on her car, including the letters KKK. This occurred in a park in or around Winnsboro, Louisiana on Sunday night. However, despite local NAACP officials announcing they have seen enough evidence to classify this attempted murder a hate crime, the Sheriff of Franklin parish is still not convinced that racism had anything to do with the horrific assault:
Police confirm that racial slurs and the letters "KKK" were found written on the victim's vehicle. Winnsboro Police say they plan to tighten security in the park where the alleged attack happened. Franklin Sheriff Kevin Cobb said, "This is a horrific event that will not be taken lightly." Winnsboro Police, Franklin Parish Sheriff, Louisiana State Police, The state fire Marshall's office and the FBI are investigating.
Local NAACP leaders say they have seen enough evidence to consider this a hate crime, but authorities are not classifying it as a hate crime at this time.
Makes you wonder what criteria the police and other "authorities" in Louisiana employ to determine when to classify a deadly assault on an black person as even a "potential" hate crime. Makes me wonder if the criteria they're using is different from what they would be use to classify an attack on a white person under similar circumstances a hate crime.