Christian shoots trans woman in the face — but in Pence’s Indiana it’s not a hate crime

Christian extremist shoots trans woman in the face — but in Pence’s Indiana it’s not a hate crime
When is a hate crime not a hate crime? If it happens in vice presidential nominee Mike Pence’s state of Indiana, it cannot be a hate crime: Indiana does not have a hate crimes statute. So, for Crystal Cash, a transgender woman who was shot in the face, police will not be pursuing hate crime charges against the man who Cash alleges shouted an anti-gay slur at her before shooting her.

Cash, 55, is currently unable to speak after being shot in the face at her Perfect You Permanent Cosmetics shop in Evansville last week.

The case has been complicated by the police — who have implied that Cash is a prostitute — and by whether her assailant, identified as Gerald Duane Lewis (AKA Gadiell Ben Israel), belongs to an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a hate group.

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Johnny Dickens, Cash’s brother, says that his sister has been in a “committed relationship for twenty years.” He alleges that police are trying to portray his sister as a prostitute rather than as a transgender businesswoman who was targeted by a Christian extremist.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/christian-extremist-shoots-trans-woman-in-the-face-but-in-pences-indiana-its-not-a-hate-crime/?utm_content=bufferfdb3f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer