Just When I Thought Things Couldn't Get Worse!
In Lakeland, Florida a Gay couple came home Monday to find their mobile home torched and an anti-gay message (die fag) spray painted on the front steps.
The case is being investigated as arson and burglary but the Lakeland fire department would not comment on whether a hate crime charge might develop
(am I understanding this correctly? A torched home + Die fag = in my humble opinion, a HATE CRIME!).
The law defines such a crime as one in which the victim is intentionally picked based on race, color, religion, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, advanced age or mental or physical disability. disaThere is no separate criminal charge for hate crimes -- it is an enhancement of a charge, said Chip Thullbery of the State Attorney's Office in Polk County.
The state attorney general's latest annual report on hate crimes for 2003 shows a clear increase in reported incidents motivated by the victim's sexual orientation.
Attorney General Charlie Crist has said that the number of such incidents statewide accounted for 20 percent of all hate crimes in 2003, the highest proportion for this category ever recorded in Florida.
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