hate crime – Page 2

South Africa to criminalize ‘hate’, incl. ‘hate speech’

A draft Policy Framework on Combating Hate Crimes, Hate Speech and Unfair Discrimination has been finalised that will introduce the concept of hate crime to South African criminal law, giving effect to international legislation aimed at balancing the right to dignity with the right to free speech. Legalbrief Policy Watch reports that Justice and Constitutional Development Minister announced this yesterday during an address to guests at a discussion panel hosted by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.

According to the Minister, the draft framework seeks to address ‘newly-defined hate crimes’ – including hate speech – where there is evidence of a discriminatory motive for targeting characteristics that include but are not limited to race, nationality, religion and sexual orientation. He said that the draft policy framework attempts to define the concept of hate speech in a way that reflects South Africa’s commitment to freedom of expression.

Jeff Radebe, South Africa's Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development — Jeff Radebe, South Africa’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development

Acknowledging that people are often victimised despite ‘the presence of the law’, Radebe emphasised the importance of ensuring that hate crime does not spin out of control and lead to anarchy. He also pointed to the need for ordinary South Africans to be educated about the values underpinning the proposed new policy, referring in particular to an ill-conceived perception that foreigners are not entitled to the same rights as South Africans.

Once the draft policy framework has been approved by Cabinet, it will be released for public comment. – Legalbrief Today at legalbrief.co.za

White House ‘not familiar with Chris Lane murder’

Josh Earnest, principal deputy White House press secretary, said he was not familiar with the murder of Australian jogger Chris Lane during Wednesday’s White House briefing.

When asked by Fox News chief White House correspondent Ed Henry about the Chris Lane case, Earnest responded, “I’m not familiar with it, actually.”

Henry explained the case in brief to Earnest looking for reaction to the Oklahoma shooting death of Lane at the hands of “bored” African-American teens who thought it would be “fun” to kill somebody.

“This sounds like a pretty tragic case. I wouldn’t want to get ahead of the legal process here and it’s clear that law enforcement officials are involved and are investigating,” Earnest said. “But any act of violence is something that — the president I think himself has spoken pretty eloquently about violence in our communities and he stood at this podium a few weeks ago where he talked about his concern about the impact that violence is having on, in particular, young people in this country.”

Henry pressed Earnest, noting that the President spoke about slain teen Trayvon Martin in the Rose Garden and in the briefing room.

“Why hasn’t [the president] spoken out about this? In this case, you said there was a judicial proceeding. There was one in the Trayvon Martin case. He spoke out extensively on that one,” Henry said.

“There are some people in this room I don’t thing who would agree with you that the president spoke out extensively on it,” Earnest responded.

Henry reiterated his point explaining that the President did speak about the Martin case in response to a question prior to the trial and then spoke about it after the trial in the briefing room.

“He expressed his concerns about the impact of violence on communities across the country and he talked about a number of things that the government can do, but also a number of things that we can do in our communities, whether it’s parents, churches, and communities can do to try to address the impact of violence and whether there is more we can do to try to protect our children,” Earnest said. – Daily Caller

The culture that killed Chris Lane

In a testament to the depravity of black thug culture, an Australian collegiate baseball player attending school in America was killed by three teenagers looking for fun, police reported. Christopher Lane, who was out for a jog in the town of Duncan, Oklahoma where his girlfriend and her family live, was targeted at random after he passed a home where the boys were staying. ”They saw Christopher go by, and one of them said: ‘There’s our target,’” said Police Chief Danny Ford. ”The boy who has talked to us said, ‘We were bored and didn’t have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody.’”

James Edwards, 15, Chancey Luna, 16, and Michael Jones, 17, have all been charged as adults in Lane’s death. Edwards and Luna, both black Americans, have been charged with first degree murder, and will be tried as adults per Oklahoma law. Jones, who is white, was charged with using a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and with accessory to first-degree murder after the fact. He will also be tried in adult court, but is still considered a youthful offender. If convicted, Edwards and Luna face life in prison without parole. Jones, who wept in court as he tried to talk about the crime before being cut off by the judge, faces anywhere from two years to life in prison. Edwards and Luna are being held without bond. Jones’s bond is set at $1 million.

Police noted that Lane was jogging through an affluent section of Duncan around 3 p.m. local time when a car carrying the three teenagers pulled up behind him. In court, prosecutor Jason Hicks alleged that Luna was in the back seat, Edwards was in the passenger seat and Jones was driving the vehicle. Luna allegedly shot Lane in the back with a .22 caliber revolver that has yet to be recovered. ”We were bored,” Luna reportedly admitted to authorities.

Hicks, who called the boys “thugs,” noted that Edwards found the slaying amusing. “I believe this man is a threat to the community and should not be let out,” Hicks said during the bail hearing. “He thinks it’s all a joke.” Edwards, who has had earlier run-ins with the law, had also been in court on Friday, apparently after the crime had been committed, to sign papers related to his juvenile probation.

James Johnson, who called police to tell them the trio was hiding in the carpark of the Immanuel Baptist Church about 5pm on Friday, described them in all-too-familiar terms. He called them “troublemakers” and “bullies” with no parental supervision, and said that Edwards had threatened to kill his own son using Facebook. ”They threatened to kill my son because they are in a gang, the Crips, and were trying to get my son in it and I wouldn’t let him do it.,” Johnson explained. “I told him he couldn’t run with those boys. He’s a little terrified.” Police Chief Ford believes that the teens’ wanted “to make a name for themselves” on the streets.

Indeed, a dark picture emerges as one peruses the social media sites teens like these invariably use to brag about themselves and their exploits. Before it was removed, Chauncy Luna’s Facebook page revealed he goes by the alias Baby Drake. It showed photos of him posing with friends, including Edwards, and flashing gang signs. Two pictures on James “Lilbuggy” Edwards’ Facebook page are also quite revealing. One shows a handgun, and several others show staggeringly large sums of cash. Both may be explained by another photo containing hashtags suggesting he was a member of the Crips. There is also a photo of him posing with a shotgun. ”Bitch we up them poles,” Edwards says in the clip, “F— ‘em.” (A dismantled shotgun with the serial numbers ground off was found in the car, but it is not currently known if it is the same weapon).

Tweets on Edwards’ Twitter account suggest he is racist. On April 29, he tweeted “90% of white ppl are nasty. #HATE THEM.” On July 15, shortly after George Zimmerman was acquitted, Edwards tweeted “Ayeee I knocced out 5 woods since Zimmerman court!:) lol shit ima keep sleepin shit! #ayeeee.” “Woods” is a term used to denigrate white people. Yet Chief Ford, who has yet to see Edwards’ social media, told the Daily Caller a hate crime charge is not likely. “I’m not discounting the stuff that’s on there, but they do that for shock and effect,” he contended.

The real shock and effect evidenced by this case so far is the deafening silence of the racial grievance industry along with their media and celebrity enablers who apparently see no way to exploit this tragedy. Jesse Jackson is the lone exception, if one considers a single tweet much of an effort. “Praying for the family of Chris Lane,” Jackson said Wednesday on Twitter. “This senseless violence is frowned upon and the justice system must prevail.” Not a word, however from people like Al Sharpton, Attorney General Eric Holder, or President Obama, all of whom were willing to weigh in on the Trayvon Martin case on numerous occasions.

Former Congressman Allen West directly addressed the reticence of what he characterized as the “race industry crew.” On Twitter, he castigated Obama. “‘We were bored & decided to kill somebody.’ 3 black teens shoot white jogger.Who will POTUS identify w/this time?” West tweeted Tuesday afternoon. West’s Facebook posting was equally caustic. “[S]hall we hear anything from the race industry crew, Hollywood elites, or maybe Oprah Winfrey? The issue is not about proliferation of guns in America. This is about a failing black community and the fact that its young men are desensitized to violence because a gangsta culture promotes it,” West wrote.

The apologists for the status quo invariably point to America’s long and tattered track record of racism, going all the way back to the days of slavery, to explain the cultural dysfunction behind such heinous crimes. Yet as black conservatives such as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams have pointed out on numerous occasions, black Americans were making steady progress in times that were far more racist (and poorer) than today. Yet today, in a time of vastly more racial equality and wealth redistribution, black men between the ages of 14 and 24 commit homicides at a rate 10 times that of young white and Hispanic males combined, according to a study by Northeastern University.

The key factors observers like Sowell and Williams frequently point to are the destruction of the nuclear family and the widespread glorification of social dysfunction. Though they affect all racial groups to varying degrees (after all, one conspirator in the Lane killing was white) no one can dispute their devastating effects on the black community. Rather than address this, many politicians, businessmen and entertainers hypocritically glamorize, enrich themselves and further their careers by promoting this culture of destruction. Thus, as Barack Obama wonders aloud how America “can bolster and reinforce our African-American boys,” he pals around with rapper Jay-Z, who has become a multi-millionaire rapping about guns, dope, misogyny and gratuitous violence. Amazon.com is selling a line of Trayvon Martin hoodies, while Ebony magazine has published several covers with celebrities dressed in the same thug-symbolizing attire. A director at the Smithsonian Institute expressed an interest in displaying Martin’s hoodie there, before the idea was ultimately rejected.

Yet when violence occurs, “civil rights” leaders like Jesse Jackson call it “senseless” and carefully avoid drawing attention to the real problem. The same goes for all the celebrities who have lined up to turn Trayvon Martin into a cause célèbre, but are currently nowhere to be found or heard on the Lane case. And despite wall-to-wall media coverage of this atrocity, principal deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest professed ignorance about the case, before claiming he “wouldn’t want to get ahead of the legal process here.” When Fox News chief White House correspondent Ed Henry noted President Obama was more than willing to get ahead of the legal process with regard to Trayvon Martin, Earnest offered up a generic response about the president’s “concerns” regarding the “impact of violence and whether there is more we can do to try to protect our children.”

We can’t protect our children from a thug culture when those who know better can’t be bothered to acknowledge its existence because it doesn’t accrue to their political advantage. And while the social dysfunction proliferates, blessed by the liberal and cultural elite, the racial divide widens. That is the real reason why the usual suspects have nothing to say about the killing of Christopher Lane. They know they, too, are part of the problem. – frontpagemag.com

Oz baseball player killed in US because he was white

One of the teens charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Australian baseball player Christopher Lane in Duncan, Okla. in the US, previously posted anti-white statements on his Twitter feed.

James Edwards, 15, Chancey Luna, 16, and Michael Jones, 17, have all been charged as adults in Lane’s death. Lane, a 22 year-old student from Melbourne, was out for a jog last Friday evening when the three teens began following him in a car and shot him “just for the fun of it,” according to Duncan officials.

Edwards and Luna are charged with first-degree murder while Jones is accused of using a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and as an accessory to first-degree murder after the fact. Edwards and Luna are held without bond; Jones’ bond has been set at $1 million.

Edwards’ social media activities are still on stark display and show the teen glorifying hip-hop, violence and sex. Pictures on Facebook also show Edwards and Luna wearing gang colors and flashing gang signs.

A couple of Tweets also suggest that Edwards wasn’t fond of white people.

On April 29, he tweeted, “90% of white ppl are nasty. #HATE THEM.” – Daily Caller

Brutally murdered for church money

William (Bill) Daly – whose family founded the iconic fruit cordial company W. Daly & Son in 1881 – was most likely on his way to deposit money for his church when he was murdered in the garden of his Morningside home.

Daly, 89, the last surviving son of the company founder, was found on Monday by his long-time domestic worker, Maureen Ngema. He had a rag tied around his neck and stuffed in his mouth.

His ankles had been bound with his shoes laces and his wrists were tied together with a key chain he normally had clipped to his belt.

The murder has shocked his neighbourhood and the Durban business community.

Ngema, 67, said she made the grisly discovery after noticing that the house she lives in on the property in Maple Road had been burgled.

Ngema, who has worked for Daly since 1985, said she had left the house at 4.30am for a check-up at Addington Hospital after a foot operation.

She arrived back at the house at about midday with her youngest son, Mandla, who worked as Daly’s gardener.

After making their way along the path on the side of the house and passing the dense foliage, they saw that the door of her living quarters was open. “The windows were broken and the burglar bars were bent aside. Inside, it had been ransacked,” said Ngema.

As she made her way back to the main house to tell her employer, her son inspected the premises before running to inform his brothers who work nearby, she said.

“He (Daly) didn’t answer the doorbell so I turned back.”

It was then, she said, that she spotted his body lying face up in the pathway leading to the back door of the property.

“I screamed and cried, I did not even get close, I could see it was him.”

Her screams alerted neighbour Clive de Vos. “I pulled him by the arm and showed him,” said Ngema.

Police spokesman Captain Khephu Ndlovu, who was at the crime scene on Monday, said Daly usually deposited his church’s Sunday offerings at a bank on Monday mornings.

“An already written-out deposit slip was found on him. He must have been on his way to the bank,” Ndlovu said.

Police suspect that robbery was the motive for the murder, as Daly’s pockets had been emptied and his bank cards, wallet, keys and ID were strewn on the floor, along with his panic button. It is unclear how the intruder/s entered the property, which is monitored by a security company, as the front and back entrances were locked.

Daly’s niece, Pat, arrived a few hours after the discovery of his body, from her home in Hilton, near Pietermaritzburg.

The narrow, secluded street was blocked by police cars and Pat was in tears as she walked into the house where her father, Dudley, who died in his sleep in December at the age of 98, had also grown up.

Neighbours and the police comforted Pat and Ngema as the two women sobbed. Mandla was also emotional.

“He (Daly) was like a father to me. Why did they have to kill him? He was an old man who did nothing bad to anyone,” he said.

De Vos said Daly was well liked in the neighbourhood.

“Everyone knew him, especially because of his vintage cars.”

He said Daly had stuck to a routine, doing certain things on certain days, which probably made him a “soft target”.

De Vos said crime was so rife in the area that after a year of living in Morningside, he had sold his house to move back to Johannesburg.

“I’ve had to hire a security guard. He comes in from six in the evening to six in the morning,” he said.

A few weeks ago criminals scaled his fence and told the guard he was interrupting their work, he said. “Luckily I came out and we were able to chase them away.”

Rose Boyle, who has lived in the area for almost 30 years, described Daly as “an absolute gentleman”. From her house in Anerley Road she would see Daly driving off in his vintage cars.

“Shocked does not begin to describe how I feel about what happened to him. I’m absolutely sick and horrified,” she said. “I can’t believe someone would do such a thing to an old gentleman.”

Another neighbour who did not want to be named said she was “gutted and angry” at the way Daly, whom she also described as a gentleman, had died.

“This is a horrible way for him to go. He was old and frail; there was no need to murder him,” she said.

Although she did not really know Daly, she, like many others in the neighbourhood, had noticed him because of his vintage cars which she said he kept “spick and span and was himself always smartly dressed”.

A case of murder and house robbery is being investigated by the Durban Central police. – Daily News

SA needs hate crime legislation

South Africa needs special legislation for all forms of hate crimes, a conference on crime in Sandton heard on Thursday.

“It would be helpful to have hate crime legislation because it would focus the police minds when investigating, prosecutors when prosecuting, judges when passing sentences,” said Kerry Williams, partner at law firm Webber Wentzel.

“And the legislature could give some guidance in how to handle these crimes.”

Williams told the conference on crime reduction that the perpetrators of hate crimes could be prosecuted using common law, and judges could recognise the aspect of hate when passing judgment on these cases.

She said legislation would give added focus and stipulate minimum sentences for hate crimes.

In hate crimes, the perpetrator selects his or her victim for some discriminatory reason such as race, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation.

Juan Nel, director of the centre for applied psychology at Unisa, said hate crimes were not recognised in South Africa.

“Unless they become a recognised crime category, they can’t be recorded at police station level.

“Without it being recorded as such, it is very difficult to get a sense of what the prevalence would be.

“Once we have it as a recorded category… you can get a sense as to how often it happens, to whom it happens and where it happens.”

He said recording the crime would also help research efforts aimed at understanding the nature and impact of the crimes.

Nel said the priority that was put on hate crimes was not based on prevalence, but their impact.

“We believe it extends beyond the individual, it also affects the community. It also about the psychological impact that it has: the fear, the anger that it might create, and sometimes it has [a] ripple effect.”

He said the Hate Crimes Working Group, in partnership with other civic organisations, had identified 450 hate crimes in five provinces since 2005.

These were KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Western Cape, Limpopo and Eastern Cape.

The crimes consisted of 150 lesbian gay bisexual trans-gender intersex (LGBTI) cases, 150 foreign national cases and 150 other cases.

The conference was hosted by the Institute For Security Studies and would end on Friday. – Sapa

Hate crime hoax

Two days after multiple law enforcement agencies began an investigation into the attack and burning of a Winnsboro woman at Civitan Park, authorities now believe the wounds were self-inflicted.

According to Winnsboro Police Chief Lester Thomas, evidenced gathered at the scene of the incident shows 20-year-old Sharmeka Moffitt’s initial claims that she was attacked and set on fire turned out to be false claims made up by Moffitt.

“This is a case in which the investigators had to pursue the facts that were presented,” Thomas said. “It’s been a very disturbing case for everyone involved.”

On Sunday, officers responded to a 911 call around 8 p.m. near the walking trail at Civitan Park to find Moffitt with burns covering her body. It was less than a minute from the time the call from Moffitt came into the 911 center that officers from the Winnsboro Police Department and the Franklin Parish Sheriff’s Office were on the scene at the park located on Hwy. 15.

Moffitt could not identify the race of her attackers, but said three men wearing “T-shirt hoodies” doused her in a flammable liquid and set her on fire at the park. The responding officers found no suspects or vehicles at the park where the attack allegedly occurred.

Moffitt was taken to Franklin Medical Center in Winnsboro and then transported to LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, where it was determined she had burns on over 60 percent of her body.

State Police arrived by helicopter with its crime lab team to gather evidence shortly after Moffitt was taken for medical assistance. Law enforcement officials gathered evidence from the scene all night, finishing its scaling of the crime scene by Monday morning.

After analyzing the evidence at the State Police Crime Lab, it was discovered Moffitt’s fingerprints were on the cigarette lighter and the lighter fluid recovered near the wooded area around the crime scene.

“There is more physical evidence along those lines that back this up,” Thomas said.

At a news conference held at LSU Medical Center on Monday evening, Moffitt’s mother, Edna Moffitt said her daughter was in critical condition with third-degree burns on her arms and other areas and would undergo surgery Tuesday.

False rumors regarding the incident were spread on various social media outlets Sunday night just hours after the incident took place. On many of the Twitter and Facebook posts, users speculated the attack was a hate crime and Moffitt was attacked for wearing a President Obama t-shirt when she was “raped and burned alive”.

Moffitt’s mother and Thomas confirmed Monday that the Obama T-shirt rumor was false and there was no evidence of sexual assault.

A racial slur and the letters, KKK, that were written in toothpaste on Moffitt’s vehicle were linked to female DNA, authorities said.

“All of the evidence is pointing back to the victim inflicting this upon herself,” Thomas said. “No evidence has shown any other person was involved.”

Thomas said that no matter the outcome of these types of tragic events, it’s always a heavy burden on law enforcement and the victim’s family.

“My heart truly goes out to the Moffitt family, who are more than just members of our community, they are my friends,” Thomas said. “I hope we can come together as a community and pray for their wellbeing and a quick recovery of Sharmeka.”

Candlelight vigils for Moffitt were held Monday night around Winnsboro before the facts of the case were revealed.

Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb said the unity shown by the community on the heels of the incident was inspiring.

“I want to thank the community, who under these stressful times they allowed law enforcement to do their job to seek information, collect evidence and follow the facts,” Cobb said. “Although I think what she did was wrong and had major consequences not only for her, but throughout our community and our country. There’s something wrong here, and we need to help individuals like this. In the same way our community came to support her as a victim, I still hope the community will support her emotional and physical recovery.”

While Thomas and Cobb said no charges have been filed against Moffitt at this time, the case evidence will be turned over to the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for review.

Thomas and Cobb said the collaborative efforts by their departments with the State Police and FBI helped in solving the case in a timely manner. – The Franklik Sun

Five suspects released in Alyssa Botha (13) murder case

Five people arrested in connection with the killing of a teenager in Muldersdrift were released on Thursday, Gauteng police said.

Lt-Col Katlego Mogale said the five men who appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Thursday were released, as there was “no evidence” linking them to the murder.

The men were accused of attacking and robbing a man and his two daughters in Muldersdrift last week.

Armed robbers approached the family in their driveway and ordered them out of the car.

The 13-year-old girl Alyssa Botha, her 17-year-old sister, and their father were shot at after their cellphones were taken.

They were taken to hospital, where the younger sister died.

On Wednesday, police said the five men had been arrested in an informal settlement in Zwartkops and others in Diepsloot.

A memory card belonging to one of the teenage girls was found on one of the men.

Mogale said police were investigating how the man had got hold of the memory card. – Sapa

The bullshit vilification of whites in South Africa

By Mike Smith

“Dog bites man” is not news, but “Man bites dog” is.

It also applies to spotting bullshit in the news. Stabbing someone to death is just not a white thing in South Africa. It is a black or coloured move. It is what they do, not we. Now if you hear of a white man who shot someone to death, then you can believe it, because that is what whites do…but stabbing? Nahhh. Who are they trying to fool here?

That is what I thought when I read a few weeks ago about five white men and a woman arrested in Boksburg after a 15 year old black boy was stabbed to death in an open field between a black township called Primrose and the white suburb of Boksburg.

Two boys, one 15 the other 18 walked through the field and the 15 yo was beaten up and stabbed to death…apparently by whites wearing balaclavas. Apparently the black mother of Sibusiso Titimani was alerted by a boy who told her. ‘mama ka Sibusiso! uyashaywa uSibusiso ngamabhunu’ [Sibusiso is being beaten up by the boers],”

Nearby, an innocent white family lived, so the police kicked their doors down at 03h00 in the morning and arrested them. The media splashed it out that 16 guns and 15 swords were found together with camouflage clothing and wait for it…the obligatory “Nazi-badge” that was obviously thrown in by the police.

Apparently, presumably and allegedly, according to the media, they carried out the killing of the 15-year old black boy in revenge for the killing of rightwing leader Eugene Terreblanche.

The story made international headlines. British newspaper’s vilification of white South Africans

Even their names were splashed all over the newspapers. “Susanna Harmse, 50, was arrested on Friday with Wesley Courtney, 27, Christopher Duvenage, 25, Daniel Harmse, 19, Abraham Harmse, 50, and Christopher Harmse.” Source

All Afrikaners then. All rightwing fanatics and murderers… right?

Now at this stage anybody who grew up in South Africa would know exactly what happened here.

The 18-year old friend of Sibusiso beat him up and stabbed him to death in the field and then blamed it on the “white peoples”… but proclaiming the obvious truth would be akin to sacrilege, for these noble savages are little angels who can do no wrong and the whites are the evil devils, yadda yadda bullshit!

The sensationalist black newspaper Sowetan and its 3rd-rate reporters such as Mogomotsi Selebi obviously tried to climb on the mudslinging band wagon and rubbed it in… “Heavy caliber guns, ammunition and rightwing emblems…” were found. Sowetan sensationalist bollocks

The MSM tried their best to turn this into a racial hate crime and blacks demonstrated against the whites outside the court.

Well it subsequently turned out that the police ended up with egg on their mugs seeing that the “heavy caliber guns” were mere pellet guns and the rest of the weapons and ammunition were all legal and registered. Further… all charges were withdrawn because the state found “no connection whatsoever” between these people and the murdered boy. They had solid alibis and none of them could be pointed out in an identity parade.

The judge had the following to say. “Somebody is going to have mud on their face,” said Snyman. “We heard that many firearms were found in your possession, but they were pellet guns. People get so upset, they come outside court toyi-toying, (but in the) meantime these people have not even been pointed out… It’s always much better if you hear all the evidence. There is nothing against the accused as it stands.” ET revenge murder charges withdrawn

The family’s lawyer, Boela van der Merwe, said the wrong message had been sent about his clients to the community of Primrose.

“The whole matter was not properly investigated. As the magistrate said, there will be mud on someone’s face.

“People jumped to the wrong conclusions.”

But you see… this is how propaganda works. Because the articles that were originally posted, were on the front pages all over the world. But then when the people were acquitted, the international media never mentioned it. They have slung the mud and some stuck… they are not going to wash it off now.

They achieved exactly what they wanted to. The vilification and blackening of the White South African, especially the Afrikaners.