As reported here, nine felony counts have been brought against the man who went on the shooting rampage a week ago Friday at the Jewish Federation, one of which is aggravated murder, meaning that prosecutors can go for the death penalty. The charges are: aggravated murder, five counts of attempted murder, kidnapping (for forcing his way in to the building using a 14 year old girl as a hostage), and malicious harassment, the state's law against hate crimes. The county prosecutor has 30 days from the day of arraignment (this coming Thursday) to decide if he will seek the death penalty.
"King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng ... said the downtown Seattle shooting, which left one woman dead and five wounded, was clearly a hate crime intended to "strike at members of the Jewish faith everywhere."
""In order to make his political statement, he left a wake of tears, serious wounds and death," Maleng said. "The attack on these women was an attack on the Jewish community, not only in Seattle, but throughout our nation and the world."
"Maleng was aware of claims that Haq suffers from bipolar disorder and said he would consider any related information, though he noted that many who suffer from mental illness "can fully be held accountable in the criminal justice system.""
Was this, in fact, a hate crime? Yes, in that Haq, a self-identified Muslim (who supposedly converted to Christianity), after doing a Google search for Jewish organizations in Seattle, picked the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle to make his "political statement" by shooting six innocent people, doubtlessly believing that they were all Jews. That, by anyone's definition, is a hate crime.
Should Maleng seek to impose the death penalty on Haq?
The answer to that is yes.
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