Wyoming and South Carolina are the only U.S. states without a law giving stiffer penalties for crimes motivated by someone’s race, sexual orientation, religion or disability.
In the days after a gunman killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado last month, much of social media lit up with the now familiar expressions of grief, mourning and disbelief.
“My heart goes out to the members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community as they cope with unspeakable pain from ongoing acts of violence that target their community, including this week’s tragic killings in Atlanta, Georgia," Haaland stated.
Wyoming is one of just three states that haven’t enacted hate crimes legislation since Matthew Shepard was beaten and left for dead in Laramie in 1998.
The perpetrator of a hate crime doesn't target a specific victim, but rather targets the person belonging to a larger community based on race or other factors.