The Knockout Game, The DOJ And Hate Crimes

This will be a sensitive topic. But it's one that needs to be discussed openly and rationally, free of the emotion that can easily accompany it. And that's not always easy to do.

Twenty-seven year old Conrad Alvin Barrett, a white man, was recently arrested and charged with a hate crime in Houston, Texas, after assaulting a 79 year old black man in the town of Fulshear, videotaping it with his phone, then bragging about it to the wrong person. Barrett apparently showed the video to an unknown couple in a restaurant, telling them what happened. The male in the couple was an off-duty arson investigator and peace officer. He left the restaurant, contacted a police officer and identified Barrett. The officer initiated an investigation, confiscating the phone and reviewing the video, which led to the arrest.

Barrett apparently said on the video that he "wanted to see if I were to hit a black person, would this be nationally televised?” The video allegedly shows him getting out of his car, approaching the old man and asking, “How’s it going, man?” — before you hear a loud smack and the victim falls to the ground.

"Barrett laughs, says ‘knockout,’ and then flees,” the FBI affidavit says.

In other videos, the FBI said, Mr. Barrett makes racial remarks and says blacks “haven’t fully experienced the blessing of evolution.”

Justice Department officials said they charged Barrett to make a point about hate crimes. “Suspected crimes of this nature will simply not be tolerated,” said Kenneth Magidson, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas. “Evidence of hate crimes will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted with the assistance of all our partners to the fullest extent of the law.”

And you know what? I have no problem with it whatsoever. From everything I've read this was certainly a hate crime directed at a black man because he was black.  (The fact that he's 79 simply proves Barrett is a coward as well.)

No, the problem here is that of the hundreds of reported knockout game incidents around the country over the last couple of years most of the attackers have been black and most of the victims have been Caucasian or Asian. Only one black assailant has been charged with a hate crime out of those hundreds of cases. So what gives?

Eric Holder has often been accused of executing the duties of Attorney General with racial bias. From his refusal to prosecute members of the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation to his unprecedented nationwide plea for anything and everything he could use against George Zimmerman after Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, Holder appears to have animosity toward prosecuting black people in federal court - particularly in high profile cases. He also seems to pick and choose cases according to his own will rather than federal statutes.

I don't know Eric Holder's heart. All I know is what I see. If there have been three hundred cases of the knockout game being prosecuted, 95% of them black on white (not actual statistics), and only two have become hate crime cases - one white and one black assailant - wouldn't that be a bit disproportionate?

These hate crimes are being ignored and even covered up by the main stream media. Major affiliates such as ABC, CBS and NBC, report the incidents without mentioning the skin colors or ethnicities of the attackers and/or the victims - even though they are clearly discernible from the videos and the police reports. Those who do report those important facts are labeled racists and profilers. Apparently in today's (overly) politically correct society reporting the whole truth is racist.

It's only going to get worse in my humble opinion. I believe very soon we will see an increase in violent responses to these crimes. People in areas where the knockout game is popular will begin arming themselves and we will see either retaliation or vigilantism...  or both. And you can bet those who respond with violence will be the ones charged because that's how Eric Holder rolls.