This state could be the next to make attacks against police officers a hate crime

AP Photo/Bill Feig

Alabama is coming close to expanding what constitutes a hate crime.

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State Rep. John Rogers (D) has asked the Alabama House of Representatives to pass a bill that would recognize police officers as a “protected group,” reports The Daily Caller. Doing so would mean harsher legislation would come down on anyone who harms an officer.

The representative reportedly told a local station that officers should be included in hate crime legislation “because it attacks a certain class of individuals.”

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According to the FBI, the federal definition of a hate crime is defined as the following:

A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, the FBI has defined a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” Hate itself is not a crime—and the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties.

As The Daily Caller points out, states have the ability to add to the definition as they see fit.

What do you think?

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