I wonder how many of the anti-Prop 8 acts of intimidation and vandalism were reported as hate crimes? Tom Messner, of the Heritage Foundation, details some of the specific acts that were reported during the fall of 2008 in California. The FBI reports for the city of San Jose, for instance, that there were 19 racially motivated hate crime incidents, 7 motivated by religion, and 15 motivated by sexual orientation.
So, were the Prop 8 supporters who had their cars keyed and their houses egged counted in any of these categories? Politically-motivated intimidation is just as destructive to the body politic, arguably even more so, than intimidation based on the listed categories. After all, our ability to hold elections or have civil political discourse is threatened by politically motivated crimes.
