Bill to Track “Hate and Bias Incidents”

Minnesota state Rep. Walter Hudson has taken aim at a bill that would update the way the state government responds to and tracks “hate and bias incidents,” in which no crime may have actually been committed, calling it “problematic.”

The bill, HF 181, was first introduced in January this year by Rep. Samantha Vang, a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, in an attempt to address what she said are “hate and bias incidents” that have soared during the COVID-19 pandemic against “Black Indigenous and people of color communities including Asian Americans.”

Under the bill, Minnesota’s “peace officers” would receive extra training to identify, respond to, and report crimes “motivated by bias.”

Additionally, the bill would allow community organizations, school districts, charter schools, and individuals to report crimes that they believe are “motivated by the victim’s or another’s actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, familial status, or disability.”  (Excerpt from The Epoch Times.)