The shooting deaths of eight people, including six Asian women, in the Atlanta area have put renewed focus on Georgia’s hate crime law.
Related: Atlanta police say hate crime charges still possible for spa killings: 'Our investigation is looking at everything' How does the law go from being signed into effect by the governor to being put into practice by police departments and prosecutors? A number of organizations in the state handle the training and take questions from law enforcement officials, from police departments up to district attorneys, but training is not directly mandated by the state.
While the legal update is not a required class, Wigginton said, the center has been pushing to get it added as a class that every officer in the state is required to take annually. “I think we will be able to hopefully get it added by the end of this year or next year,” he said. Aramotherapy Spa, one of three locations where deadly shootings occurred in the Atlanta area on Tuesday.
Skandalakis added that this year has been a little different because of COVID-19. “We still gave a law update through webinars,” he said, “so we advised them that the new statute had passed last year and [has] gone into effect. We go over the law and what the elements are. We’re a resource so if anyone runs into a situation where there’s a new law and they’re really not sure about it, they contact us and we walk them through that.
The Georgia law states that if the shooter selected victims based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, etc., he can potentially be charged with a hate crime.
Were the two white people shot a hate crime too or does that not fit the narrative ?