Resisting Arrest Can Now Be Considered a Hate Crime in Louisiana

Cops copping a feel. Is it a hate crime in Louisiana to react to this ... or complain?

by Gaius Publius

Just a brief note while I work on a longer piece about the bipartisan history behind the most obvious of the multiple coups we're experiencing, the Trumpian one.

This has trial balloon written all over it. From Jacob Sugarman at Alternet:

Resisting arrest can now be considered a hate crime in Louisiana

The bill empowers police to pursue more draconian punishments if crimes are motivated by animus towards the police

In May of 2016, Louisiana’s Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards signed the “Blue Lives Matter” bill, which protects police officers, firefighters and EMS officials under the state’s hate crime statute. The law went into effect in August, and now at least one police chief is ready to apply it to anyone resisting arrest.

“We don’t need the general public being murdered for no reason and we don’t need officers being murdered for no reason. We all need to just work together,” St. Martinville Police Chief Calder Herbert told a local ABC affiliate. “Resisting an officer or batter of a police officer was just that charge, simply. But now, Governor Edwards, in the legislation, made it a hate crime.”

While the bill does not specifically list resisting arrest as a qualifying offense, it empowers police officials to pursue more draconian punishments of crimes deemed to be motivated by animus towards the police. The Huffington Post’s Julia Craven offers a chilling scenario: “If a police officer grabs a protester’s arm during a demonstration and that person makes a movement the officer considers aggressive, a minor trespassing or disturbing the peace charge could be bumped up to assault and possibly considered a hate crime.”

The Trump administration has taken notice: "On WhiteHouse.gov, the Trump administration has vowed to make life uncomfortable for “the rioter, the looter [and] the violent disrupter.” It also pledges to increase the number of officers on the streets."

Again, a trial balloon, but in this cop-and-prosecution worshiping country, it's almost guaranteed to take flight. After all, given the current Congress, I'd be shocked if a federal version wasn't attempted.

Note also the provisional language in the write-up — "can be considered" a hate crime. This means, the charge is available if the prosecutor wants to use it, selective prosecution, in other words, used against selected targets. After all, if the cop tells a judge, "She called me a 'pig,' your honor," ("pig" being a hippie-era epithet for "cop"), that may be all it takes to get a conviction. And note, the charge doesn't even have to be true, just asserted by police (who of course, never lie).

As I said above, there are multiple coups going on, including an obvious one made invisible by the media and cheered by the Democratic Party (see "Who’s Blackmailing the President?"). There are also at least two counter-coups, one hidden and big-footed by the other (for a hint, see "The Sanders Conundrum"). But the coup one in plain sight should not be ignored. It really is happening.

GP