Georgia Man Brandishes Gun at Black Neighbor
After tempers flared during a tete-a-tete between neighbors, a 73-year-old Bibb County man faces major federal criminal charges. According to the Justice Department, the man fired a .22 caliber revolver toward the victim at his home in Loganville in Gwinnett County. Authorities say Wheeler’s actions were racially motivated. An indictment alleges he violated the Fair […]
Antisemitism Law Dies in Georgia Assembly
Depending on your perspective, there was good news or bad news from the state capitol recently, as lawmakers refused to enhance criminal penalties for hate crimes. The bill’s reference to the broad International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism probably killed it. Certain political and advocacy groups oppose this definition. Additionally, the Georgia Supreme […]
Hate Crimes on the Rise in Georgia
According to the FBI, which finally released hate crime statistics for 2021, these infractions increased 22 percent in Georgia. Advocates are even more concerned about a 20 percent decline in the number of agencies that reported these incidents. Religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity were the most common hate crimes violations in Georgia. Anti-Defamation League Southeast […]
Hate Crimes in Georgia Increased in 2020
Thanks to a new law, the number of hate crimes that went to Georgia courts was up over 500 percent in 2020. The numbers for 2021 are not yet available, much to the chagrin of some advocates. Almost all hate crime charges involve the alleged victim’s ethnicity or race. Sexual orientation and religion hate crimes […]
Were the March 2021 Spa Shootings a Hate Crime?
Some groups are clamoring for prosecutors to apply a controversial new law to a spate of massage parlor shootings, but others are not convinced that the law applies. 21-year-old Robert Long allegedly killed eight mostly Asian people at two Atlanta-area massage parlors. Long claimed the attacks were not racially motivated. Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon […]
