We hear the Left scream all the time about hate crimes and also inflammatory rhetoric needing to be toned down, but have they ever thought about what effect the Trayvon Martin buzz is having in this regard?
It cost at least one guy a beating in Chicago, according to his attacker and this local news station report:
"Alton L. Hayes III, a west suburban man charged with a hate crime, told police he was so upset about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida that he beat up a white man early Tuesday.Hayes and a 15-year-old Chicago boy walked up behind the 19-year-old man victim and pinned his arms to his side, police said. Hayes, 18, then picked up a large tree branch, pointed it at the man and said, “Empty your pockets, white boy.”
The two allegedly rifled through the victim’s pockets, then threw him to the ground and punched him “numerous times” in the head and back before running away, police said. Hayes and the boy are black; the victim is white.
After being arrested, Hayes told police he was upset by the Trayvon Martin case and beat the man up because he was white, Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said, citing court records."
I'm not suggesting that there shouldn't be discourse about the issues, but I find it telling that I haven't heard people on the Left come out and condemn the rhetoric that has apparently led to an actual crime.