Posted on 04/26/2010 12:51:35 AM PDT by Maelstorm
SAN FRANCISCO — Three Hayward cousins have pleaded guilty to shooting a man in the face with a BB gun because they thought he was gay, and were sentenced to six months in jail.
Mohammad Habibzada, 24, Shafiq Hashemi, 21, and Sayed Bassam, 21, also will be on probation for three years and must complete as much as 400 hours of community service, including 40 hours of hate-crime sensitivity training, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
Police said the men went to San Francisco on Feb. 26 armed with an air rifle and video camera, targeting people who they thought were gay, including a man who was standing outside a Mission District bar smoking a cigarette.
They shot the man in the cheek and were caught soon after when the victim — while giving a report to police — spotted their car still in the area.
The victim was not seriously injured, police said.
Investigators found the rifle and camera, which contained footage of 11 additional attacks that appeared to occur in San Francisco.
There was not enough evidence to pursue charges in the other attacks, said Brian Buckelew of the District Attorney's Office.
"It was unclear whether anyone was hit, and because no one came forward, we can't do anything with that," he said.
The men pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of negligent discharge of a BB gun, but with a hate-crime enhancement.
"Normally the charge would be a misdemeanor, Advertisement Quantcast but with the hate-crime allegation, it becomes a felony," Buckelew said. "That's why (the allegation) is important."
The men had been charged with three felony counts and one misdemeanor, including assault with a deadly weapon with a hate-crime enhancement, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence and attempted mayhem.
Buckelew said the settlement offer was made after considering input from community groups, the victim, the seriousness of the injury and the seriousness of specifically targeting people based on their sexual orientation. He said they also took into account the age, lack of criminal history and remorsefulness shown by the defendants.
The men will be formally sentenced May 13.
"They shot the man in the cheek and were caught soon after when the victim — while giving a report to police — spotted their car still in the area. The victim was not seriously injured, police said.
Investigators found the rifle and camera, which contained footage of 11 additional attacks that appeared to occur in San Francisco.
There was not enough evidence to pursue charges in the other attacks, said Brian Buckelew of the District Attorney's Office."
2 things you’re wrong on Maelstrom
1) Current federal hate crimes protects against crimes motivated, “on the basis of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.”
So if a group of individuals decide, “Hey, let’s go attack some white guys”, that could still be a hate crime because its targeting people based on race/color/gender.
2) It isn’t a felony only because the targets were thought to be gay. Its a felony because of a charge like, “discharge of a firearm with gross negligence” and “attempted mayhem”.
I dont know why you think its funny some sick weirdos thought it was ok to go shoot at gay people in san francisco. that’s awful.
The oh so tolerant Muslims mix it up with the oh so tolerant gays, who are taking a break from assaulting Prop. 8 supporters.
LOL, Muzzies are not very deep thinkers. A BB gun is not the weapon of choice if you're going to be rampaging ;^)
I think that your use of "could" instead of "would" is pretty funny.
When Sacred Cows Collide...
You know, Happy Rain,
You don’t have to be real gay,
To think this is wrong...
1 thing you are not getting ca209guy, Maelstrom was overemphasizing to make a point. Calm down Francis.
You just signed up today to make this your first post? Just some advice, before jumping on a person or group of people, make sure you understand what is going on first.
What people find funny is the stupidity of these religious zealots who not only don’t see why it might be a good idea to leave the scene of a crime they committed, but made the concerted effort to incriminate themselves by recording all their attacks and carrying it around with them.
Just curious, you seem to agree with hate crime legislation. Do you think that letting bureaucrats make judgements on “perception” of someone’s motives in any kind of issue is a good idea? Why is an attack on someone that takes place because they simply “looked vulnerable” somehow less heinous than an attack on someone because they “looked homosexual”?
???
Please show me one or two examples of ethnic on white violence enhanced as a "hate crime".
Especially since in his other post since joining today, he identifies himself as a "liberal".
i am a liberal and i think that .....
You’re right. A crime should be standardized across actions. This whole “perceived” thing is just wrong and arbitrary. It should be sued out of existence.
What troubles me the most, though, is this part of the article: “40 hours of hate-crime sensitivity training”.
Who decides what that is? It sounds like re-education camps. You should be able to think as you like. Battery and assault are completely different. This is a religious belief taken over the line. The punishment goes too far as well in trying to realign the mind.
I’m one of many who don’t see the point in “hate crime” laws. I don’t care whether some black/Hispanic/Asian/white kid was assaulted/shot because of his skin color or his wallet, either way the criminals should be locked up for a VERY long time. Why would it be worse to choose a victim based on certain actual or perceived traits than to choose based on other actual or perceived traits? I’d seriously like to hear your answer.
Also, as a technical note, air guns are not considered firearms, since firearms require an explosive charge.
Not because of any animosity I have towards gay people, but because if they had been attacking straight white men, the SF cops would have patted them on the head, handed their BB guns back, and filed the crime under "Oh, those wild and crazy Muslim kids...."
Good that they were locked up. I'm not entirely happy about the hate-crime aspect of the case, but that's a discussion for another day.
BTW, this is the first that I've heard of the event. IMHO, I'd call it terrorism.
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