Great article.

Minor correction. It is a hate crime.

Hate crimes don’t have to be racially motivated. The victims don’t all have to fit the profile of intent to make it a hate crime.

For instance, drawing a parallel with this case, if the motivation is to kill women at massage parlors but more males (customers) actually die in the attack it’s still a hate crime. They weren’t the target, they were just collateral damage. Hate crimes are established in large part by intent and irrational rage toward specific people.

I don’t know if I’d be so dismissive of race as an issue either, not that I believe the conspiracy theories. I’d wait to make that determination. But why massage parlors in particular? Why not other locations sex workers are known to frequent? Why not sex toy shops? Why not seedy love shacks? Why not set up a string of hooker dates and take them out one by one? He could have gone a lot longer before being taken down, covered multiple towns, and killed many more sex workers. Why not porn studios and shoot locations? Why not Hustler or Playboy magazine headquarters?

I’m just saying that particular choice is indicative when there were other, more deadly options. There’s a reason he went there. Maybe it had to do with race, maybe something else. I just wouldn’t exclude the possibility entirely yet, or because 2 white female sex workers were also killed. Not all racially motivated killings are attached to white supremacy either.