Should attacking cops be a hate crime?

Most states define a hate crime as attacking someone because of their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Louisiana is poised to add being a first responder to that list.

Known as the “Blue Lives Matter” bill, it has already passed both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature and heads to the governor’s desk. Gov. John Bel Edwards’ staff told CNN he intends to sign the bill soon.

Blue Lives Matter refers to saying the lives of law enforcement matter, which became popular after the Black Lives Matter movement began. Black Lives Matter originally started in response to 17-year-old Trayvon Martin being shot by George Zimmerman and has continued to campaign against violence towards black people, particularly violence by law enforcement. The bill also applies to firefighters and paramedics.

The Louisiana law was proposed after Darren Goforth, a Texas deputy, was ambushed, shot and killed while in uniform last August, according to sponsor Rep. Lance Harris.

“I certainly do think there is a need for it. If you’re going to have an extensive hate crime statute then we need to protect those that are out there protecting us on a daily basis,” Harris said to CNN. “There is a concerted effort in some areas to terrorize and attack police and I think this will go forward and stop that.”

But critics said the law confuses the meaning of hate crime laws. Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Allison Padilla-Goodman wrote to Gov. Edwards and said she hadn’t seen any cases where violence against police officers are not, “investigated and prosecuted vigorously under current Louisiana law.”

“The bill confuses the purpose of the Hate Crimes Act and weakens its impact by adding more categories of people, who are already better protected under other laws,” Padilla-Goodman said in a release. “Hate Crimes are designed to protect people’s most precious identity categories ... like race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, and gender identity. Proving the bias intent is very different for these categories than it is for the bias intent of a crime against a law enforcement officer.”

Louisiana would be the first state to have hate crime laws extend to first responders.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Should attacking cops be a hate crime?."