We see and hear about all sorts of different crimes across the country; our news channels are always reporting crime cases, from misdemeanors in a city neighborhood or a first degree murder in a hotel room. There is always a motive for people to commit crimes, and as much silly as it may sound, these motives are powerful enough to drive a person to a sinful path.
It is the motive that clearly differentiates a person from a violent crime and a hate crime; where both are equally shameful, horrendous and punishable. Let’s get into details.
Violent Crime
Incidents where a victim is threatened or harassed or harmed by violence or violent means, it is definitely a violent crime. Common examples of violent crimes include homicide, murder, assault, manslaughter, sexual assault, rape, robbery, negligence, endangerment, kidnapping (abduction), extortion, and harassment.
The two types of aggravated assault are first degree aggravated assault, when an intentional attempt is done to cause bodily injury to a person, or the person has actually been harmed. And second degree aggravated assault where there is not a deliberate attempt to harm someone, however a mental recklessness caused the action. This thin line causes the aggravated assault to come a degree lower.
An aggravated first degree assault which includes the use of a deadly weapon has the perpetrator imprisoned for at least 25 years and up to $5,000 in fines.
The penalties for battery range from misdemeanor charges with less than 30 days in jail to substantial lifetime imprisonment. States usually describe the possible range of sentences in their laws.
Is Robbery a Violent Crime?
Robbery is the act of forcefully taking a person’s assets or possessions, often at the cost of harming or threatening the victim. The crime itself is wrong on so many levels, and if it involves the threatening of the victim and snatching their assets, it is definitely classified as a violent crime.
Violent Crime Statistics
The total number of violent crimes in the US is 1.2 million with a rate of 366.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. Being a first-world country, the crime rate in the US is at a 47.70 in the crime rate index, ranking 50th in the world. The percentage is 5.30%.
Hate Crime Definition
Hate crime is referred to an act of physical or sexual violence against another person, where the motive is pure hate towards them on the basis of their race, religion, ethnicity or sexuality. It is very commonly seen that minorities are often targets of hate crime and violence, where they are tortured and tormented to an unexplainable limit.
The United States is full of examples of hate crime against minorities; torturing them, abusing them and even killing them for their cultural or religious association. Hate speech, which is abusing or saying nasty things to a person is also considered a criminal act.
Hate crimes are motivated by hatred toward a person’s identity, and can have immense psychological consequences on the victim’s mind. Research has proved that victims of hate crime often become patients of anxiety and depression, and are often victims of suicide. These people lose their sense of belonging in the community, lose their identity and are a common target of hate speech and different types of hate crime. Their vulnerability is what leads to a massive episode of emotional and psychological trauma which in turn affects their daily lives and how they function in their mundane routines.
Hate Crime Examples
The country is full of examples of hate crime against minorities, and racism is the biggest cause of it. White people have been torturing and abusing African Americans since centuries and have been discriminating against them on the basis of their race and the colour of their skin.
2020 alone has shocking examples of the brutality against black innocent people. One hate crime example is of George Floyd who was killed out in the streets for being black! Imagine the amount of hatred one race has against another for someone to be killed out in the streets for the colour of their skin. In March 2020, a 46-year-old black man was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. The white police officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes nad 46 seconds, after which he died while crying for help.
In May 2020, a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico charged two defendants with murdering two transgender women. The indictment accuses the defendants of using a firearm to commit a crime and causing two deaths through the use of a firearm. The charges also include a hate crime based on the victims’ gender, sexual orientation or gender identity.
On January 25, 2019, Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright, and Patrick Stein were sentenced to 25, 26, and 30 years, respectively, for conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and to violate the housing rights of their intended victims. Both conspiracies stemmed from the defendants’ plot to blow up an apartment complex in an effort to kill the Somali Muslim immigrants who lived and worshipped there. Prior to the conviction, the FBI conducted an eight-month-long investigation during which they uncovered recordings of the defendants discussing their plan to attack the apartment complex. One undercover FBI agent posed as a black-market arms dealer and met with one of the defendants, who attempted to purchase a bomb from the undercover agent.
Conclusion
Not just the United States, but there are several other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia that have been identified as the most dangerous countries in the world, with cities that have the highest crime rate.
There has always been debate about how to control such rising crimes that occur often due to poverty, unemployment or hatred towards another in cases of aggravated assault and hate crime. The justice system needs to be strengthened to the point where punishment for such crimes is severe and where every criminal is caught and punished. This is the only way the crime rate of cities and countries can be controlled to make it safe for people to live in.
