Holder Urges New Hate Crimes Law: WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder said this week that recent killings show the need for a tougher U.S. hate crimes law to stop “violence masquerading as political activism.”
“Over the last several weeks, we have witnessed brazen acts of violence, committed in places that many would have considered unthinkable,” Holder told the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
He cited separate attacks over a two-week period that killed a young soldier, an abortion provider, and a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Federal agents and prosecutors are already involved in local investigations of each attack.
The violence, Holder said, “reminds us of the potential threat posed by violent extremists and the tragedy that ensues when reasoned discourse is replaced by armed confrontation.”
