“Blue Lives Matter” – Louisiana Legislature Defines Attacks Against Police As Hate Crime

In today’s social climate, anybody with internet access is aware of great societal movements. One of the most prominent echoes of the present day is the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and the backlash against police brutality. Such hatred pointed towards law enforcement officials in general as a reaction of a few bad seeds has led to an increase of crime pointed towards the police.

On May 26th, Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana passed a bill that widened the criteria of what is considered a “hate-crime” in his state. The definition now includes police officers, firefighters, and EMS professionals. A felony is categorized as being a “hate-crime” if it is fueled by the victim’s identity. This can include offenses committed based upon race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social or economic status, etc. This lengthy list of qualifiers will now include occupation in the state of Louisiana.

Gov. Edwards stands firmly behind his decision. “Coming from a family of law enforcement officers, I have great respect for the work they do and the risks they take to ensure our safety … they deserve every protection that we can give them.”

However, many are against Edwards’ decision: the Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, Allison Padilla, argued that this ruling will result in the term “hate-crime” carrying less weight than it currently does. According to her, the law will “[weaken] the impact of the Hate Crimes Act by adding more categories of people who are already better protected under other laws … Working in a profession is not a personal characteristic, and it is not immutable.”

Many believe that in the current debate regarding police brutality, there exists a deep-seeded hatred towards anybody in a uniform. Louisiana State Representative Lance Harris, the mind behind this law (formally known as HB 953), observed: “In the news, you see a lot of people terrorizing and threatening police officers on social media just due to the fact that they are policemen. Now this [decree] protects police and first responders under the hate-crime law.”

Harris’ actions are in response to one very specific attack: one Texan police officer, Darren Goforth, was murdered while on duty in August 2015. All evidence pointed towards the crime simply being committed because of his occupation, and there was no perceived motive outside of pure hatred.

In response to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, police officers nation-wide have banded together to create the “Blue Lives Matter” organization. In the eyes of this group, police officers are a targeted minority.

Spokesperson Randy Sutton approved of Louisiana’s actions, saying that it is “important because symbolically it advises that there is a value to the lives of police officers. When you give value, it acts as a deterrent in one sense, but it also is a tool to add extra punishment for the assaults and the crimes against them.”

The bill faced no push-back whatsoever – in Louisiana’s House of Representatives, the vote was unanimous.

The increased social attention towards police brutality has resulted in an over-arching hatred for all police officers, fire fighters, and EMT professionals when in actuality, such offenses are being committed by a few bad seeds. The generalization that all police officers are corrupt and evil is wrong, and Louisiana legislature has taken strides to protect their men and women in blue; from now on, an attack against a police officer will now be considered a hate-crime.

Featured Image via Wikimedia