Officials are investigating if the suspect who shot 3 Palestinan students can be charged with a hate crime. Here’s what that means. | CNN

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

63% : Families of the victims and civil rights groups have demanded the attack be investigated as a hate crime, linking the shootings to the concerning rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias incidents in the US since the latest war between Israel and Hamas began in October.
45% : When used in this context, hate does not refer to anger or rage, but rather “bias against people or groups with specific characteristics that are defined by the law,” according to the DOJ.
41% : It is the first statute to allow criminal prosecution of crimes motivated by a victims perceived sexual orientation, according to the Department of Justice, and made it “a federal crime to willfully cause bodily injury, or attempt to do so using a dangerous weapon, because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin.”

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