Surely, surely, Matthew Sheppard's being beaten and hung up on a barbed wire fence and left to die is no less revolting. Surely our fellow man deserves no less than our pets. Hate crimes are different. Even today, those very words make us feel uncomfortable and they should. Surely we are not going to equate a barroom brawl or a crime of passion with a group that decides, with purpose, to get in a car and go beat up blacks or gays or Jews without even knowing who they are.
Hate crimes are about sending a message.
The cross that was burned in a black person's yard not so many years ago was a message to black people. The gay person that is bashed walking down the sidewalk in midtown is a message to gay people. And the Jews that have endured thousands of years of persecution were all being sent messages over and over again. I would say to you that now is our turn to send a message. I am not a lawyer, I don't know how difficult it would be to prosecute this or even care.