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Dorchester man charged with Andrew cane beating

Andrew suspect

Transit Police report arresting Miguel Velazquez, 20, of Dorchester today on charges he grabbed a disabled man's cane at Andrew station Saturday night and then hit him with it.

Velasquez will be arraigned tomorrow in South Boston District Court on charges of unarmed robbery and assault and batter with a dangerous weapon, police say.

Innocent, etc.

Photo via Transit Police.

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Comments

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What a lowlife.

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Why isn't this a hate crime for attacking a person with disabilities?

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Was he screaming "death to all cripples" or similar during the beat down?

That's the difference between a crime and a hate crime - intent to target somebody due to hate and expression of that hatred. Looks like more of a crime of convenience and stupidity otherwise. On the other hand, there are usually charges or penalties added on for attacking elderly and disabled people.

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I don't think so. What on earth was Mr. Velazquez intending to do with the cane he stole?

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That's the difference between a crime and a hate crime - intent to target somebody due to hate and expression of that hatred

Not really. While that's the common sense intent of anyone who hears the words "hate crime", in MA, the statue says the crime must only be "motivated at least in part by by racial, religious, ethnic, handicap, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation prejudice"; in practice that means that if any of those traits are obviously present (e.g. possession of a cane; two men holding hands; a person of dark complexion) at the time of the alleged attack, the prosecutor can pile on hate crimes violations as well.

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But are most disabled people targeted because of hatred of disabled people in general, or are they more likely to be victims due to their relative inability to stop the assailant? A hate crime may be hard to prove here. I would say if the man were simply beaten, a hate crime could be argued (though motivation by prejudice would have to still be proven - the victim could have said something that pissed the assailant off), but if the victim was beaten during the commission of a theft, I would think it would be harder to prove it was a hate crime.

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This is MA, he won't even get jail time. My guess is he'll be released without bail and never heard from again.

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he'd just get dragged behind a pickup until he looked like a raw pot roast or maybe just shot by some self-appointed vigilantes along with four other guys named Miguel Velazquez they'd picked up just to make sure.

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Jesus Christ, Sally - way to take it to the extreme, put words in my mouth and insinuate that I'm looking for some backwoods, James Byrd-type justice. Classy, real classy.

Maybe, I was referring to cases like this: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x511623013/Hopkinton-man-accused-...

Next time you speak, try using that pea sized thing located between your ears.

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I made no personal accusations but come on--your estimatation of MA justice is about as ridiculous as my take on Texas. This case has already gotten a lot of attention and outrage--this guy is not going anywhere bail free. Your link doesn't work, btw.

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But, allow me to break the suspense. It's about a man, in MA, who beat a man in a wheelchair and was released without bail and ordered to stay away from the victim. Seems pretty similar to what happened at Andrew Sq., possibly worse. Want to tell me my estimation of MA justice is ridiculous again? As far as I can tell it's spot on.

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Do you realize how diverse the population of Texas is? Even America's 4th largest city, Houston, has an openly lesbian mayor. And if Miguel did that in a Mexican or Hispanic majority neighborhood in Texas, the locals would know how to deal with him. No need for your fantasy racist white guys.

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"Certain" people just are not charged with hate crimes. This was just an isolated freak occurrence as the result of this poor young man not having a good home or getting enough help from local government.

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He has a pretty distinctive face--I was hoping that once they got those photos up he'd be identified pretty quickly.

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Hope he hates jail which is where he is right now. It's so sad how low people can go. He needs to be locked up. Glad we have the police to arrest.

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Asshole of the month award?

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let's hope it sticks.

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