Hate is more than just a poisonous thought or idea. It is a very particular category of crime and the U.S. Department of Justice tracks hate crime incidents in Idaho.
In 2020,the DOJ’s latest data shows the number of hate crimes in Idaho had nearly doubled in only two years, with nearly half of the reported crimes based on race, ethnicity or ancestry.
“Being hateful, having hate in your mind or your heart or speaking hateful language isn't in and of itself, generally speaking, a crime. We aren't prosecuting people for their thoughts or their ideas,” said Josh Hurwit, U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho. “Where the government can get involved from a law enforcement perspective is when someone's hate leads them or motivates them to threaten, harass or actually attack or commit violence.”
Hurwit visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about an upcoming event on Jan. 16,United Against Hate, featuring participants from his office, DOJ, FBI and Wassmuth Center for Human Rights.
Read the full transcript below:
GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Good morning. I'm George Prentice. As we approach Martin Luther King Jr. Day / Idaho Human Rights Day, we want to learn more about an event which is coming up on Monday - the day of the all-important holiday.. Here to tell us more is Joshua Hurwit, United States Attorney for the District of Idaho. Mr. Hurwit, thank you and welcome back to the program.
JOSH HURWIT: Thank you, George. Thanks for having me.
PRENTICE: The event is titled United Against Hate. Indeed, it will be held here in the Treasure Valley. You recently held a similar event in North Idaho. So, I am curious about how you think that went. I have to assume that Idahoans are anxious to engage this issue.
HURWIT: George that's exactly what my experience has been so far in leading DOJ's United Against Hate Initiative in Idaho. We've had several meetings throughout the state so far. And as you mentioned, our largest public event to date was in North Idaho at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Casino, hosted by the tribe, along with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations back in November. We had over 200 people attend, from all walks of life. And they traveled out to the casino. And we in these public events present on federal hate crimes laws, but also engage with the community in terms of what individuals are experiencing and the tools that we have, both in law enforcement and in the community to address acts of hate.
PRENTICE: As a layperson, I'm pretty sure I know hate when I see it or when I hear it. That said, you and your colleagues have to approach the prosecution of hate very specifically. And here's a rare opportunity for me… to ask you how do you prosecute against hate?
HURWIT:. In a moment, you get into sort of the nitty gritty, so to speak. But I think, as you mentioned, it's a very tricky area because obviously we're guided for great reason by the First Amendment. And as everyone knows, being hateful, having hate in your mind or your heart or speaking hateful language isn't in and of itself, generally speaking, a crime. We aren't prosecuting people for their thoughts or their ideas. Where the government can get involved from a law enforcement perspective is when someone's hate leads them or motivates them to threaten, harass or actually attack or commit violence.Figuring out when someone's conduct is motivated by a bias, be it racial, gender based or otherwise, it can be very difficult for law enforcement. We start with the facts, and in a way, we work backwards, and we investigate to see if that person who committed the crime, let's say it was an assault and there was a case recently in Seattle where an individual from Boise went over there, part of a white supremacist rally, and he and a couple of others assaulted a black individual. That assault occurred and investigators found why those individuals were there and what actually motivated that attack. And that can be very a lengthy process, as you can imagine.
PRENTICE: Would a case like that …or could a case like that end up in federal court?
HURWIT: Yes, that case did, in fact, end up in federal court. And four defendants were convicted.
PRENTICE: Let's talk about Monday. United Against Hate. And the subhead here is engaging with federal and local officials and community stakeholders to combat hate. The first thing that jumps out for me is how rare this opportunity is to have, well, your office and your presence, the US attorney's office here, the District of Idaho, but also the DOJ community relations Service, the FBI, the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, and of course, the College of Idaho. How did this come about?
HURWIT: So, this is really part of the initiative. And hopefully this will not be rare for Idahoans and your listeners to engage with us in these ways. We're really grateful to the College of Idaho for hosting this event. And partnering with the Wassmuth Center allows us to add a broader perspective than just the criminal justice perspective to this debate. I'll just tell you that you can sign up at our website. There's a link from our website which is www.justice.gov/USAO-ID.
PRENTICE: It's Monday at 1:00 pm at the College of Idaho. Can I assume that in addition to learning about how you do what you do, I can also get a takeaway from Monday's event. In other words, what we can do as citizens and how we connect the dots to actually, number one, just generally push back against hate, but to see what is prosecutable.
HURWIT: That's exactly right. I would say there are sort of three prongs. One is we want to encourage people to report hate incidents or hate crimes, and we want to encourage overreporting rather than underreporting. As part of that and this is sort of prong two, we will explain what the limits of federal law are as well as state law. But having said that, again, we want to encourage reporting of all types of incidents that people feel might be motivated by hate because it helps us connect the dots. Maybe one incident isn't necessarily something that can be prosecuted on its own, but it may relate to an ongoing investigation, or it may relate to another incident that occurred somewhere else. And sometimes that's how these long-term investigations reach fruition. And then finally, the third prong that we're hoping to accomplish on Monday is, is this broader discussion. We have a certain mission and a certain perspective at the Department of Justice, but our partners bring to the conversation perspective. And the overall goal in partnering with the folks that we do and the entities that we do is to move towards a community where everyone is respected, regardless of who they are or what their characteristics are.
PRENTICE: Dr. King reminded us that combating hate in America was nothing new. That was in his lifetime. And now, a half century later, while the DOJ and the FBI are on the front lines of that fight, as you have through most of our nation's history.
HURWIT: Absolutely. The DOJ, - Department of Justice - was founded during Reconstruction after the Civil War with the primary purpose of prosecuting the KKK and protecting the rights of black Americans and newly freed slaves.That was in the 1860s and the 1960s. The Department continued to work on civil rights and to again protect the rights of black Americans in the South. One of the images that stuck with me from my education and that still motivates me today is the image of four US Marshals who are DOJ employees walking Ruby Bridges to and from school. In that spirit, we continue our work. It affects all Americans. When you think about the DOJ's mission of protecting the civil rights of every Idaho and every American.
PRENTICE: We will put a link to registration on our website as well. But I can't imagine a better day than Monday for this event. United Against Hate. And again, it begins at 1 p.m. at the College of Idaho. Details again on our website as well. Until then, I want to thank Joshua Hurwit, United States Attorney for the District of Idaho, for what he and his colleagues do every day and for advancing this conversation so that we can engage not just Monday, but we look forward to many conversations going forward.
HURWIT: Thank you, George. I do as well.
Find reporter George Prentice on Twitter @georgepren
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