London Banter - View Single Post - A less pleasant aspect of 'railway photography'?

The Real Doctor

On 26/08/11 12:14, d wrote:
On Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:56:50 +0100
The Real wrote:

If Mr Shepherd had been killed by a couple of thugs who didn't like him,
or his clothes, that would have been dreadful but individual. By killing
him for what he was, they were also threatening other gay men, and it's
that threat which merited further punishment.

So if they'd killed him because they didn't like say his blue shirt then
they were threatening everyone who wore blue shirts? Do me a fscking favour.

If they had done it to intimidate all blue shirt wearers then yes,
undoubtedly an additional crime. We have that sort of problem up here in
Bonny Scotland, where beating people up for wearing orange or green is
likely to result in a more severe punishment than doing it on an
individually determined basis.

It's precisely the reason why terrorist murders - which are intended to
put non-victims in a state of fear and distress - are generally punished
more harshly than non-terrorist ones. More victims.

Except the minor point of there only being 1 victim in this case. Not quite
the same as blowing up a tube train.

You misunderstand. The other victims are the people who are put in a
state of fear by the original crime. If a drug dealer in Possilpark
chibs once of his late paying clients, well, that's all very unfortunate
for the victim and his family, but has no particular wider concerns. If,
on the other hand, a gay man is stabbed for no reason other than being a
gay man, other gay men will be put in a state of alarm.

Don't think of it as "hate crimes". Think of it as terrorism.

Ian