# Can this Muslim woman be charged with a hate crime? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 15, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733 "2016-12-15T00:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pleks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@pleks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pleks)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/1 "2016-12-15T00:01:22Z")
There is a case in New York, where a Muslim woman who reported she’d been attacked by white Trump supporters [is now charged with filing false report](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/muslim-woman-reported-trump-supporter-attack-made-story-article-1.2910944) Now, the notorious false police report cases off the top of my head are: 1. Some white woman who a few decades ago drove her car with the kids inside into river, drowned them, then claimed a black guy kidnapped them. 2. A deranged black whore a few years ago, who accused a group of white students of rape. In former case, the woman was trying to cover up her own crime. In latter case… well, it was just a deranged whore, don’t think she was targeting white people specifically. But this case appears to be slightly different: there was no crime to cover up, and the girl doesn’t seem deranged. The whole story seems to be concosted with the goal of targetting a specific group of people: white Trump supporters. So, a question for dopers well-versed (or just versed) in law: can she be charged with a hate crime? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/2 "2016-12-15T00:09:32Z")
“Filing false report” is not generally one of the crimes that can become a hate crime. They are generally restricted to violent crime–including violence to property. If the crime were one that could be elevated to a hate crime, there would still also be the problem of proving she did it because they were white, and not because, as she claimed, they were Trump supporters. Being a Trump supporter is not a protected class. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/3 "2016-12-15T00:10:37Z")
Based on this list, I would think she could not since it is not a specified offense under New York penal law. > **[New York Penal Law | Hate Crime Specified Offenses | NY Laws](https://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/hate_crimes.php)** > > New York Penal Law Hate Crime Specified Offenses. A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified offense | NYS Laws ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/4 "2016-12-15T00:37:50Z")
The whiteness of the supposed Trump supporters isn’t mentioned in the newspaper report linked in the OP. The report does say that the gave the police a description of the subjects, and it is possible that in the description she specified that they were white, but we don’t know that; the report doesn’t say what ethnicity, if any, she specified. So, really, there’s nothing at all here to suggest a racial motivation; any racial element seems to be a complete invention of the OP’s, which is ironic. Nor, indeed, is there any evidence that the false report was actuated by animus against Trump supporters. The report explicitly says that her motivation is not clear. It may have been simple attention-seeking. ---
**Author:** ![pleks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@pleks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pleks)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/5 "2016-12-15T00:42:46Z")
[She initially reported that three white men shouting “Donald Trump” verbally accosted her on the subway around 10 p.m. on December 1 as she was leaving a Baruch College event, a local CBS affiliate reported.](http://www.businessinsider.com/yasmin-seweid-trump-supporters-harassment-2016-12?r=UK&IR=T) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/6 "2016-12-15T02:14:43Z")
“White woman” (who killed her kids) “Deranged black whore” (false rape accusation) Hmmmm… interesting phrasing there. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/7 "2016-12-15T02:22:16Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “White woman” (who killed her kids) They are taking the three babby back to new york to lady too rest. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/8 "2016-12-15T02:24:09Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “White woman” (who killed her kids) > “Deranged black whore” (false rape accusation) > > Hmmmm… interesting phrasing there. Iirc, the ‘black whore’ in question was a stripper/prostitute. The phrasing still sucks but isn’t far from the truth. Slee ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-muslim-woman-be-charged-with-a-hate-crime/774733/9 "2016-12-15T02:40:18Z")
Yes, because killing your kids so you can hook up with a man is … different… than being a mere whore, true. But only one had their descriptions modified from the factual. So… Deranged white adulterer and murderer Deranged black whore Is more accurate still.