Conrad Barrett Knockout Video Incident - Research Paper Example

Race crime incident Conrad Barrett ‘knockout’ video incident Introduction Conrad Alvin Barrett, a Houstonarea man has been charged with federal hate crimes for allegedly assaulting a 79-year old African-American man (Amant, para 1). The accused was arrested for violation of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act after he distributed a ‘knockout’ video game of his assault on the elderly African-American man. According to FBI investigators, Barrett knocked out the unsuspecting victim with a punch on the jaw and injured him (Amant, para 4). The investigators found out that Barrett’s phone was full of messages with racial slurs and that he actually planned to commit the offense. The accused lawyer argued that his client had a bipolar disorder and was under heavy medication at the time of the offense. The FBI reminded all citizens to report any cases of racially motivated attacks and outlined that all citizens enjoyed equal protection under federal law. If found convicted, Conrad Barrett may face a statutory maximum prison term of 10 years and a fine of $ 250,000 (Amant, para 7). Reactions across the country The race incident received a lot of public condemnation across the nation. The African-Americans, Hispanics and White racial groups criticized the knock out video and called the Department of Justice to take swift measures in prosecuting the offender in order to prevent further incidents. The local community in Texas expressed fear that its members were increasingly becoming targets of violent racial attacks and demanded justice for the victim. However, some conservative pundits pointed out that the Justice department was applying the law selectively when charging the offender with hate crimes since 66 percent of all racial attacks documented in 2012 were directed against White by the Blacks. The Justice Department issued statements outlining that it does not discriminate when making decisions regarding hate crime charges while U.S Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels issued a Justice Department statement that announced the charges to Barrett and outlined that the Civil Rights Division will work with federal and state law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute hate crimes. The Attorney for Sothern district of Texas, Kenneth Magidson affirmed that suspected crimes of this nature will no longer be tolerated and evidence of hate crimes will be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law (Amant, para 8). A federal judge has indicated that Barrett cannot be released temporarily on bail since he poses a danger to the community as well as his victim. The relevant law and adverse effects of the race incident Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Preventions Act of 2009 provides funding and technical assistance to state, local and tribal jurisdictions to effectively investigate and prosecute hate crimes. The Act criminalizes bodily harm using fire, firearm or other weapon when crimes are committed because of actual or perceived color, religion, race, or national origin of the victim. Accordingly, the threats to violence are not covered, but those who inflict physical injury may be prosecuted under other statutes such as 18 U.S.C 245 and 42 U.S.C 3631. Since mid 1960s, the American society has increasingly continued to experience hate crimes that are motivated by the identifiable characteristics of the victim. Hate crimes are different from other crimes since they occur due to the criminal’s personal bias, hatred or prejudices against a victim’s identity (Burke, 2013). The race hatred crimes have adverse psychological impact on the victim and his or her community since the members of such race feels isolated, threatened and vulnerable to racial attacks (Perry, 2003). Racial hate crimes create tensions between several ethnic groups and can trigger civil disturbances or riots that can lead to massive social and economic consequences (UCR, 2013). The crimes civil disturbances can lead to deaths and destruction of property thus leading to decline in property values and increase in the medical costs incurred by the local authority (Burke, 2013). The long-term recovery can be hindered by the lower tax revenues, abandoned neighborhoods and low business activity volume thus forcing the local authority to scale down its services due to decline in tax revenues and high medical expenditure. Statistics on race hate crimes According to FBI Hate crimes statistics for 2012, a total of 6,573 crimes were committed across the country with 47.2 percent being motivated by racial bias (Hall, 2013). The statistics pointed out that 20.2 percent of the crimes were motivated by religious bias, 19.8 were fueled by sexual-orientation bias while 11.3 were motivated by national origin or ethnicity bias. Bias against physical and other disabilities accounted for 1.5 percent of the single-bias hate crime incidents (Hall, 2013). Texas Hate Crime Act defines hate crimes as the crimes that are motivated by prejudice and hatred and all law enforcement agencies in Texas are required to report such crimes to the Department of Public safety. In 2012, Texas reported a total of 171 hate crimes which was a 17 percent increase from 146 cases that were reported in 2011 (UCR, 2013). Racial-bias motivation accounted for 41 percent of the crimes in 2012 and 35.6 percent of the 2011 crimes. Anti-black bias motivation recorded 50 cases in 2012 and 43 cases in 2011 while anti-White bias motivation recorded 11 cases in 2012 and 6 cases in 2011 (UCR, 2013). Hate crimes in Texas are underreported since California recorded 1,089 bias-motivated cases in 2012 compared with only 171 cases in Texas. Houston did not indicate the statistics of hate crimes during the period thus indicating poor reporting and investigation mechanisms. However, Texas hate crime statistics are low compared with other states and the national average (UCR, 2013). Interventions to prevent such incidents The local government leadership must undertake measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in order to safeguard the civil rights of those individuals who may be victimized due to their color, race, national origin or religious affiliation (Burke, 2013). Preventing these crimes will require a challenge to the attitudes and behaviors that foster racial hatred and build confidence among the victims so that they can come forward and seek justice (Perry, 2003). The local government must invest more resources in creating public awareness on the dangers posed by racially-motivated attacks. Informed citizenry facilitates democratic and civilized society and thus the local authority must invest in programs that aim at changing the prejudices towards the racial identity (Burke, 2013). The local government should ensure that diversity is incorporated in school curriculum in order to ensure children and young adults do not experience racial biases and prejudices. Diversity education is essential in preventing development of prejudiced attitudes that may trigger hate related crimes (Burke, 2013). The schools should also have ‘zero tolerance’ policies that will encourage the children and young adults to learn how to engage in peaceful conflict resolution in order to prevent the bias-motivated behaviors (Burke, 2013). The local authority should use the mass media as an ally in shaping public opinion on attitudes towards hate crimes, its perpetrators and the justice system penalties (Perry, 2003). The media can be helpful in reporting instances of racial hate crimes or reducing the suspicion and anger that may exist between two races in a particular neighborhood. The mass media should be encouraged to provide a balanced coverage of the hate group activities, treat the victims with respect and sensitivity and highlight the progress made in preventing the racially-motivated attacks by the local authority (Perry, 2003). The local authority should embrace community policing concept through forming partnerships and mutual relationships with community leaders in order to foster reporting of the racial hate offenses for investigations (Perry, 2003). The community policing efforts should involve various stakeholders and agencies such as the private business leaders, civil rights interest groups, law enforcement agencies and educational organizations (Burke, 2013). The idea of community policing strategies is to foster creative problem-solving approach that will discourage hate behavior and collaboration with communities in preventing these incidents (Perry, 2003). The local government must cooperate with other agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations and state government in investigating and prosecuting suspected offenders. There should be a coordinated plan that will respond to any public demonstrations and that outlines the responsibilities of the law enforcement agencies in protecting the civil rights and liberties of the hate crime victims (Perry, 2003). The local authority should be prepared to counter the adverse outcomes of such incidents such as demonstrations and counter demonstrations by the different ethnic groups that may lead to unprecedented violence across the municipality (Burke, 2013). The local authority should create a local Human Rights Commissions that aim at promoting stability and harmony in the communities through encouraging the citizens to focus on their commonalities and not differences (Perry, 2003). The commissions should organize training workshops and events where the citizens can celebrate their multicultural identity. The training should involve schools victim assistance agencies, diversity advocacy groups, and representatives from the US Department of Justice (Burke, 2013). The local government must foster ethnic, racial, religious and national origin inclusion in their staff since this will help minimize the perceptions of inequality in representation (Perry, 2003). Ensuring that the minorities have an opportunity to participate in decision-making process through appointments to commissions and boards create positive ethnic and racial relations (Burke, 2013). The local government should provide specialized support and fast response to victims of hate crimes through obtaining accurate information about the incident and conducting preliminary emotional, psychological and financial injury involved in the incident (Perry, 2003). The detailed information on the victims, the perpetrator characteristics, the situations of the hate incident and available witness statements should be collected, preserved and handed over to the law enforcement agencies for prosecution of the offenders. The victims should be immediately referred to assistance agencies for counseling (Perry, 2003). The authority should advocate for implementation of effective sanctions for hate crime perpetrators through enhance penalties and longer prison sentences for the bias and prejudice-related race hate crimes. The first-time non-violent race hate crime offenders must be encouraged to change their attitudes and assist in educating the communities on the need to stop such crimes from happening in the future (Perry, 2003). The correctional facilities should also have education and counseling programs that teach the youthful offenders on the importance of diversity tolerance and peaceful conflict resolution methods (Burke, 2013). Conclusion According to available statistics, racially-motivated violent attacks are prevalent across the nation due to the multicultural and ethnic composition of the American society. The hate violence has been directed at individuals, families, groups and organizations due to their racial, religious or sexual orientation. The crimes include arson of houses and businesses, harassment, personal assaults, homicides and destruction of religious property. Hate crimes dehumanize the victims and may trigger widespread race demonstrations and violent riots that can lead to serious social and economic consequences. Law enforcement agencies will continue to play a critical role in preventing racial hate crimes, but this role cannot be accomplished without involving the efforts of the local authority. The strategic interventions aim at preventing future incidents of racial violent attacks in the local authority and the authority should undertake appropriate measures to prevent the racially-motivated bias or behaviors that trigger the race hate attacks. The authority should cooperate with the relevant law enforcement agencies in investigating and preventing future crimes through disseminating the necessary information on the need for peaceful resolution of disputes. The implementation of the above strategic interventions will require collaboration of multiple stakeholders such as schools, community leaders, religious organizations, private enterprises and public agencies in order to build a society of peacemakers. References: Amant, C. (2013). ‘Texan charged with hate crime for knockout punch of elderly African- American man’, Culture Map Dallas. Accessed on 22nd March, 2014 from http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/city-life/12-27-13-conrad-barrett-texas-hate-crime- knockout-game-punch-elderly-african-american/. Burke, R.H. (2013). An Introduction to Criminological Theory. New York: Routledge. Hall, N. (2013). Hate Crime. New York: Routledge. Perry, B. (2003). Hate and Bias Crime: A Reader. New York: Psychology Press. Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Bureau. 2013. ‘Annual Report of 2012 UCR Date Collection: Crimes in Texas Overview’, Accessed on 23rd March 2015 from http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/2012CIT.pdf. Read More