SPOKANE, Wash. – Dale Nagy, Deputy Prosecutor for Spokane County, recently closed the case of 53-year-old Kurt Boerner. Nagy is one of eight major crime prosecutors in the county and acknowledges the complexity of handling hate crime cases like Boerner’s.
Nagy said, “You know, trying to understand how people or why people would feel that way about another based on race or religion or sexual orientation. It’s it’s hard to comprehend that.”
Nagy explained that calling someone names or having racist thoughts isn’t a hate crime. The evidence is crucial in defining a hate crime.
“Without that, basis for, race or religion or preferences, it would be maybe just a malicious mischief. It might be just a second or third degree assault, but the fact that they’re doing it based on their perception that individuals, position, that’s what makes it a hate crime,” Nagy said.
In Boerner’s case, the evidence was clear. He was charged with second-degree assault for pulling out a weapon and using racial slurs against a store employee.
Nagy said, “He pulled out the knife and threatened the employee with the knife. That’s why there’s a second assault. Assault with a deadly weapon and also hate crime. Because the basis of that threat that he made was his racial prejudice.”
Hate crimes are classified as Class C felonies, which are more serious than misdemeanors. Sally Winn emphasized the importance of recognizing and reporting these crimes.
Winn said, “We’re finally starting to name it as what it is. It’s not anything. It’s not, expression of free speech, especially not when you have a knife and you’re going to be held accountable.”
Winn noted that some individuals are hesitant to report hate crimes due to concerns about their citizenship status.
“I know for a fact, through what we’re seeing come through our doors, there’s so much hate around refugees and immigrants right now, and it’s really increased this past year,” Winn said.
In 2019, House Bill 1732 reclassified malicious harassment as a hate crime offense, increasing the maximum damages from $10,000 to $250,000. Nagy highlighted the legal implications of hate crimes.
Nagy said, “You can call somebody a name and that’s fine. But if you call someone name and you attack them, you hurt them, you destroy their property. That’s not okay. And you will be held accountable for that. And it will be even a higher penalty now, because the basis for your actions was that prejudice that you have.”
In the past year, most hate crime offenses in Spokane fell under the intimidation category, with the majority of offenders being white. Nagy reflected on the legal system’s progress in addressing hate.
Nagy said, “So as an attorney, it is very, it gives us a great deal of satisfaction that we can hold people accountable for, you know, that kind of behavior, that kind of thought process.”
[Link placeholders: YWCA Spokane, Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office, House Bill 1732]
