« …there is broad division on whether there are sufficient grounds for adding hate crime charges. »
Yesterday NBC News published a story titled “No evidence yet of federal hate crime in Atlanta-area spa killings, officials say.” That’s clearly disappointing to a lot of people who are convinced this crime was the peak of the recent wave of attacks on Asian Americans. But as NBC explains, there’s just no evidence to support that so far. Federal and local law enforcement investigators have yet to find concrete evidence that would be enough to build a federal hate crime case against the man accused of killing eight people at three Atlanta area spas, several law enforcement officials told NBC News… The first step in assessing a potential hate crime is for the local U.S. Attorney to direct the Atlanta office of the FBI to open a preliminary investigation into the matter, the officials said. So far, no directive has been given, the officials said, because after probing electronic devices and conducting interviews, investigators have seen no evidence leading in that direction. Hate crime charges could be filed later if evidence supporting a prosecution is found. So they’ve looked through his phone and his computer and so far that’s not indicating the motive here was racist. The FBI won’t get involved unless that changes.
