Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA, 2004

In February, Maria Catherine King, a homeless woman of less than 100 pounds who had been struggling with mental illness, was brutally beaten and killed in Berkeley, California. The suspects were two 18 year-old males. The victim, 49-year-old King, a legal writer and advocate, was known for giving out cookies, free legal advice and a shoulder to cry on. The attack began as an apparent argument over “dumpster diving.” A witness testified that he saw two hooded figures kicking something “as if they were kicking a soccer ball as hard as they could.” The beating lasted about 15 seconds, and as the two attackers walked away, the witness testified, one turned back, got a running start and “jumped on the object with both feet.”

In May, in Holly Hill, Florida, five teenagers charged with killing a homeless man said they did it “for fun” because they “needed something to do.” The five teens left the scene and returned numerous times to beat Michael Roberts, 53, with their fists, tree branches, and a large log.

In August, in Los Angeles, two 19-year-old men, allegedly inspired by the “Bumfights” video, took to the streets, hitting sleeping homeless people with aluminum baseball bats and leaving an elderly man in critical condition.

Sadly, these gruesome accounts are just a few of many that demonstrate the hate/violence faced by people experiencing homelessness each year. The following report documents 84 hate crimes and violent acts that occurred in 2005, collected from newspapers and reports across the country. The narratives bring to light the discrimination and senseless violence faced daily by so many of our country’s homeless citizens.

Samplings of the headlines in the case narrative section of this annual report say it all:

The main objective of this report is to educate lawmakers, advocates, and the general public about the problem of hate crimes and violence against homeless people in order to instigate change and ensure protection of civil rights for everyone, regardless of their economic circumstances or housing status. As part of its mission, the National Coalition for the Homeless is committed to creating the systemic and attitudinal changes necessary to end homelessness. A major component of these changes must include the societal guarantee of safety and protection and a commitment by lawmakers to combat the hate crimes and violent acts against people who experience homelessness.

Over the past seven years (1999-2005), advocates and homeless shelter workers from around the country have seen an alarming, nationwide epidemic in reports of homeless men, women and even children being killed, beaten, and harassed. In response to these concerns, the National Coalition for the Homeless has produced seven reports documenting these acts.

1999: No More Homeless Deaths! Hate Crimes: A Report Documenting Violence Against Men and Women Homeless in the U.S.
2000:   A Report of Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Who Are Homeless in the United States in 2000
2001:   Hate. A Compilation of Violent Crimes Committed Against Homeless People in the U.S. in 2001
2002:   Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness in 1999-2002
2003: Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness in 2003
2004: Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2004
2005:   This report, Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness in 2005

This latest report continues to maintain the same goals and objectives as in the previous ones:

The term “hate crime” generally conjures up images of cross burnings and lynchings, swastikas on Jewish synagogues, and horrific murders of gays and lesbians. In 1968, the U.S. Congress defined a hate crime, under federal law, as a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of their race, color or national origin (Title 18 U.S.C Section 245). The law mandated that the government must prove both that the crime occurred because of a victim’s membership in a designated group and because the victim was engaged in certain specified federally-protected activities — such as serving on a jury, voting, or attending public school. [1]

Hate crimes are commonly called bias-motivated crimes, referring to the prejudice or partiality of the perpetrator against the victim’s real or perceived grouping or circumstance. Most hate crimes are committed not by organized hate groups, but by individual citizens who harbor a strong resentment against a certain group of people.

Some are “mission offenders,” who believe they are on a mission “to cleanse the world of a particular evil.” [2] Others are “scapegoat offenders,” who project their resentment toward the growing economic power of a particular racial or ethnic group through violent actions. Still others are “thrill seekers” — those who take advantage of a vulnerable and disadvantaged group in order to satisfy their own pleasures. [3] Thrill-seekers, primarily in their teens, are the most common perpetrators of violence against homeless people.

In documenting hate crimes and violence against homeless people, and the data and documentation used for this report, NCH relies on news reports and information relayed to us by homeless shelters around the country. Although NCH acts as the nationwide repository of hate crimes/violence against homeless people, there is no systematic method of collecting and documenting such reports. Many of these hate crimes and/or violent acts go unpublicized and/or unreported, thereby making it difficult to assess the true magnitude of the problem.

Often, homeless people do not report crimes committed against them because of mental health issues, substance abuse, fear of retaliation, past incidents, or frustration with the police. Some cases this year were also omitted because the victims were found beaten to death, but no suspects could be identified. In addition, the report does not take into account the large number of sexual assaults, especially against homeless women.

LEGISLATION

Subsequently, federal bias crime laws enacted have provided additional coverage. The Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990 (HCSA) mandates the Justice Department to collect data from law enforcement agencies about “crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based upon race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.” [4] The Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act, enacted as a section of the Violent Crime

Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, defines a hate crime as “a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person.” This measure only applies to, inter alias, attacks and vandalism that occur in national parks and on federal property. [5]

The most recent piece of legislation, Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005, was introduced in the U.S. House (H.R.2662), and in the U.S. Senate (S.1145) in the 109th Congress. In September 2005, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005 was added to the Children’s Safety Act of 2005 (H.R. 3132) as an amendment. H.R. 3132, including the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005, passed the U.S. House of Representatives with 371 Members voting in favor of the passage. On September 15, this bill was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which has broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, “authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that: (1) constitutes a crime of violence under Federal law or a felony under State or Indian tribal law; and (2) is motivated by prejudice based on the race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of the victim or is a violation of the hate crimes laws of the State or tribe.” There is currently no federal criminal prohibition against violent crimes directed at individuals because of their housing status.

The National Coalition for the Homeless aims to include housing status in the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005 (H.R. 2662 and S. 1445) and in future pieces of legislation. Through the inclusion of housing status, hate crimes and violent acts toward people experiencing homelessness will be more appropriately handled and prosecuted. Additionally, if victims know that a system is in place to prosecute such crimes, they are more likely to come forward to report these crimes. People who are forced to live and sleep on the streets for lack of an appropriate alternative are in an extremely vulnerable situation, and it is unacceptable that hate crime prevention laws do not protect them.

Also noteworthy is the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005 (H.R. 259), which was introduced into the 109th Congress by Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas and has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. This bill is an abridged and slightly altered version of H.R. 2662 and S.1145. [6]

Source: Anti-Defamation League

Source: “Responding to Hate Crime” U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime, www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, www.ojp.usdoj.gov

Source: Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, www.civilrights.org

Source: Anti-Defamation League

Source: http://Thomas.loc.gov