Why are we not calling the Kroger shooting a hate crime, critics ask
Hours after a gunman killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue, the attorney general of the United States
denounced it as a hate crime and vowed to seek the death penalty.
But in Louisville, where five days ago a white man killed two black people at a Kroger, local, state and federal officials have been slow or silent on a motive.
It took Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers four days to
say the slayings were racially motivated, telling churchgoers Sunday the issue is "the elephant in the room."
Rogers was speaking at First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown, a predominantly black church that police said the suspect
tried to enter minutes before opening fire at Kroger.
Kentucky and federal prosecutors still haven't called the Kroger killings a hate crime. They also haven't said who will handle the case or whether they will pursue a death sentence.
Both alleged shooters made their intentions clear. In Pittsburgh, suspect Robert Bowers proclaimed: "I just want to kill Jews!" In Louisville,
Gregory Bush reportedly told white bystander Ed Harrell: "I won't shoot you. Whites don't shoot whites."
Both suspects have a history of racially insensitive commentary on social media. And both tried to enter a house of worship, though Bowers succeeded and Bush did not.
With so many similarities in the cases, activists and others in Louisville have questioned the contrast in how they are being handled.
"What's the delay? Why haven't public officials been more forceful in calling this a hate crime?" said the Rev. David Snardon, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition.
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth said on Twitter on Saturday that federal officials should "call it what it was: a hate crime."
While speaking in Frankfort on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the Kroger killings a hate crime that
merits the death penalty.
Russell Coleman, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, declined to comment Monday. He pointed to a
statement he gave the Courier Journal on Thursday, saying federal investigators are supporting local police in the investigation and are looking for possible violations of federal law, "which includes potential civil rights violations such as hate crimes."
Several civil rights leaders and Metro Council members met Sunday to discuss concerns, mainly questioning why the incident wasn't quickly denounced as a hate crime by Mayor Greg Fischer and Gov. Matt Bevin.
A spokeswoman for Fischer told a reporter Sunday night that the mayor did view it as such. On Monday, Fischer himself publicly declared: "This was a hate crime."
Still, Snardon said, "the level of urgency is of concern. Until the FBI actually gets involved, until it's charged as a hate crime, it's simply rhetoric."
Agents with the FBI, assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, have been investigating the case but haven't disclosed the motive. Tim Beam, spokesman for the FBI's Louisville Division, declined to respond to the criticism Monday, referring calls to Coleman's office.
In a statement Fischer sent the Courier Journal on Monday, he also deferred to federal prosecutors: "We want this man held accountable for his vile and racist actions specifically targeting African Americans, and will continue to call on the U.S. Attorney to prosecute this case as a hate crime.”
Sessions hasn't commented on the Louisville case. Despite detailed public comments hours after the synagogue slayings, Department of Justice spokesperson Kelly Laco said in an email to the Courier Journal the "DOJ does not confirm, deny, or otherwise comment on investigations." She referred questions in the Louisville case to Coleman.
Carla Wallace, with Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice, said if this case isn't treated as an act of racism, it "sends a very bad message not only to the black community but to all of us who care about racial justice."
"People talk about unity and bridging the Ninth Street divide," she said. "This is one of those moments we need to show we mean that."
Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine and Coleman have been discussing "what's the best outcome for the protection of the public," Jeff Cooke, a spokesman from Wine's office, said Monday.
"They're taking allegations of this being a potential hate crime very seriously."
At a press conference Monday afternoon, Fischer said he will push for a stronger state hate crime law.
In murder cases in Kentucky, racial hatred can be used to explain the motive but not to increase the punishment because it is not listed as an aggravating circumstance. In the Kroger case, state prosecutors could seek the death penalty merely because more than one victim was killed.
Federally, there is a hate crime statute that requires proving motive. The death penalty is rarely sought in federal court and requires approval from Washington officials.
"If we go forward with an indictment, it doesn't preclude the federal government from pursuing a case," Cooke said.
Former federal prosecutor Kent Westberry, who has worked on hate crime cases, told the Courier Journal on Monday, "This looks like a hate crime to me."
But he urged patience, saying Coleman would likely have to first consult with Department of Justice officials before taking the case.
"It's not even been a week," said Westberry, a former Kentucky Bar Association president. "In my experience, it would be inappropriate and unusual for law enforcement to make a conclusion in how they're going to proceed in less than a week."
Metro Council President David James said he hopes that the case will be prosecuted as a hate crime and that the shooter will face a death sentence.
"I don't believe he was mentally ill," he said of reports that the suspect claimed he had schizoaffective disorder in unrelated court cases.
"I think he knew what he was doing and should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," said James, a veteran police officer.
Kerry Harvey, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said it had taken him weeks to announce his office would handle the hate crime case against four suspects accused of kidnapping and brutally beating a man because of his sexual orientation.
He said Coleman is likely reviewing investigators' reports, the suspect's statement and consulting with experts with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division before deciding whether to prosecute the case in federal court.
"I can assure you there's no apathy," said Harvey, who knows Coleman and several officials in Wine's office. "They're just trying to get this right. It's not unusual that the federal prosecutors would defer to the wishes of the state prosecutors."
Harvey, who was an Obama appointee, theorized on why a decision in the Pittsburgh massacre moved much faster. "I think just the scale of it — the number of victims — made it a national story immediately and would have expedited the decision-making process.”
Chanelle Helm, a lead organizer for Black Lives Matter in Louisville, criticized Fischer for taking five days to publicly denounce the hate crime.
"It sits in the pit of my stomach a little," she told the Courier Journal on Monday. "Had it not been an election year, I don't think he would have said it."
Helm also took aim at reporters.
"What we'd like to hear from the media as well as politicians is that people that commit these types of crimes are terrorists," Helm said.
