It seems that yet another allegedly right-wing attack on progressive or left-wing individuals and/or institutions and/or buildings has been shown to be an ‘inside job’.
An Indiana community was shocked after a local church was vandalized with Nazi slogans and Donald Trump graffiti, but now police say it is a hate crime hoax and the church was not attacked by an outsider. They have charged the congregation’s own organist, a Hillary supporter and gay activist, for the crime.
. . .
It was immediately thought to be a hate crime because the small Episcopal Church is a progressive congregation that welcomes gays. The graffiti spray painted on the church walls read “Heil Trump” and “Fag Church.”
But during their inquiries police quickly came to feel that the vandalism was done by someone familiar with the church and began looking at the crime as an inside job. After an investigation, police arrested Stang.
The church organist allegedly admitted to the crime telling police he did it because he wanted to “mobilize a movement after being disappointed in and fearful of the outcome of the national election.”
There’s more at the link.
I’ve read several similar stories since President Trump’s election, but as far as I can recall, I’ve read not a single one that links an actual hate crime (rather than just talk) to his supporters, or to activists motivated by his policies. Am I wrong? Can anyone correct that impression? If so, please add a comment, providing verifiable details.
Can’t these people figure out that if you’re living a lie, and propagating a lie, you’re unlikely to convince anyone of the truth of your position? Truth will out. Shakespeare used the phrase, but he copied it from a proverb that’s almost as old as time, and just about as inevitable. I’ve certainly seen it in operation within prison walls. Almost none of the inmates expected to be caught, and when they were, they fully expected to be able to duck, dodge and evade the truth, or talk their way out of their crimes. The fruits of their efforts were visible in the length of their sentences . . .
Peter
There's that word "fearful" again.
– Charlie
And it doesn't faze them or matter to them. That is the sad part.
Police officers know that this type of crime is more likely than not to be a hoax. They start with the assumption that the "victim" is the perpetrator because 9 times out of 10, he (or, more usually, she) is.
We had a situation in my area. A waitress shared a photo of a receipt with no tip and a racist message. Sharp eyes noted that the time stamp on the receipt in the photo is after the restaurant closes. The incident dropped off the news radar after a person recognized the receipt as theirs and contacted the local papers saying: No, I did not leave that message. I left 2 cents for lousy service. (not an exact quote, but close enough)
I have been to that restaurant. The service is very hit/miss so I understand a .02 tip.
Worse yet: It now appears that the Washington Post, which pounded out reportage in flaming, outraged terms fifteen times about the original "incident" and the ongoing investigation, has adamantly failed to even attempt any sort of corrective reportage that fully-covers the facts of the fraud that the police uncovered – instead limiting themselves to a brief, parenthetical "update" addendum to the original coverage, quite casually mentioning the name of the perpetrator of the fraud, without any attempt whatsoever to make it clear that the whole thing was a hoax.
Your "reliable, honest media" at work…as per all-too-usual!!…
The "hate crimes " probably do exist; they just don't fit The Narrative.
Hate crimes take a lot of work, and they accomplish very little. Unless you burn a building down or something similar, most so-called hate crimes involve little more than TP-ing someone's front yard.
Those suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome live in their own little bubble totally divorced from reality.
In their echo chamber of a world very shortly the entire Trump administration will surely be impeached, marshall law declared, and either Obama returned to office, or a new election held that Hillary would surely win this time.
Each and every attempt to insert any sort of rational thought into this process is summarily rejected as it absolutely does not fit their narrative.
As for The Truth Will Out, usually, eventually, but in the current case our media is actively working to suppress any truths that don't fit their very leftist agenda. Selective coverage or non coverage was bad enough, but now they are resorting to outright lies, and were it not for the internet who would ever know?
The only hate crime I can think of recently around here happened before Trump got the nomination. He was sentenced to 15 years in the Federal Pen for firebombing a Somali restaurant in Grand Forks.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/crime/4109898-man-receives-15-years-setting-grand-forks-somali-restaurant-fire
Well when your entire political focus of being is that you are an "oppressed" member of society than you will walk around with a victims mindset. Throw in a healthy amount of psychological projection and confirmation bias and you start to see (and create) the world you fear.