James Byrd Jr.'s and Matthew Shepard's killers gave the feds more weapons to fight hate crimes
John William King sought to terrorize blacks in east Texas by murdering James Byrd Jr., but his vicious crime instead provided federal law enforcement with additional tools to punish perpetrators of hate crimes.
Matthew Shepard's mom: We've stepped back 02:04The victims, the law said, applied only to those engaged in federally protected activities, such as going to school, serving on a jury or voting. In 1995, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act upped the penalty for hate crimes.The hate crime law spurred by the Byrd and Shepard slayings removed the provision that the victim had to be engaged in a federally protected activity.
Trump honors 'Tree of Life' shooting first responder 01:03Supporters argued that the bill's wording protected free speech and that the repercussions of being the victim of a hate crime were more profound -- and took longer from which to recover, especially in the LGBTQ community.Then-Attorney General Eric Holder testified the act was necessary to combat a spike in hate crimes, most notably in Latino communities.
2003: Phelps on Matthew Shepard statue 01:19The men left with Shepard and drove to a remote spot in east Laramie where they beat him and whipped him 19 to 21 times with the butt of a .357 Magnum, one of the blows smashing his brain stem. Comatose, Shepard was left bound to a fence until a mountain biker, at first mistaking him for a scarecrow, found him about 18 hours later. The 21-year-old died days later at a Fort Collins, Colorado, days later.
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