Lack Of Hate Crime Law In Indiana Leaves One Family Searching For Justice

By Jason Marck, Daniel Tucker
Motivations for hate crime incidents, 2015: 56.9 percent were motivated by a race/ethnicity/ancestry bias. 21.4 percent were prompted by religious bias. 18.1 percent resulted from sexual-orientation bias. 2.0 percent were motivated by gender-identity bias. 1.3 percent were prompted by disability bias. 0.4 percent (23 incidents) were motivated by a gender bias.
Motivations for hate crime incidents, 2015: 56.9 percent were motivated by a race/ethnicity/ancestry bias. 21.4 percent were prompted by religious bias. 18.1 percent resulted from sexual-orientation bias. 2.0 percent were motivated by gender-identity bias. 1.3 percent were prompted by disability bias. 0.4 percent (23 incidents) were motivated by a gender bias.

Lack Of Hate Crime Law In Indiana Leaves One Family Searching For Justice

By Jason Marck, Daniel Tucker
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
This past June, 15-year-old Jason Gardener was severely beaten near his home in New Haven, Indiana. Before blacking out from the punches and kicks, Jason clearly heard his assailants call him the “N-word”, and yelling “Go back to Africa where you came from”. The assailants weren’t charged with a hate crime, because Indiana is one of 5 states that doesn’t have hate crime legislation on the books. And the family’s search for justice only exposed them to more racism from their community. 

BuzzFeed reporter Albert Samaha joins Morning Shift to talk about the story and what the lack of hate crime laws mean for Hoosiers looking for relief from the police and the courts.