Massachusetts AG’s ’Hate Crime Hotline’ Backfires as Trump Supporters Call In

That didn’t go as planned.

1.31.2017

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey set up a “hate crime hotline” in the wake of Donald Trump’s election for citizens to report being victims of attacks by Republicans. But the unexpected happened: there were plenty of Trump supports on the receiving end of vile hatred.

According to the Boston Herald, in the first two weeks, there were “21 complaints from people reporting threats or harassment from Trump supporters, while 15 people called to report incidents targeting Trump supporters.”

Between Nov. 14 and Nov. 28, 186 out of 941 calls were complaints, including just 29 which alleged threats or harassment based on ethnicity or religion. There were eight homophobic, six that mentioned white power or swastikas, and three were gender-based, the report states.

Howie Carr wrote in the Herald about the ridiculous nature of some of the complaints:

“At a traffic light someone yelled something that shocked her, and she would like to report it.”

“A white male passed her and aggressively flipped her (off). She then noticed he had a Trump sticker on his bumper and she has a Hillary one.”

“Some white women were wearing Trump shirts. They started harassing us. Called us names. Said we had to move out of the country.”

And this is what passes as “hate crimes” now? Like Carr said, this is some fake news right here.

Not to mention the propensity for Democrats to make up attacks, like the young Muslim girl “attacked” on a NYC subway by men in MAGA hats. Who is to say some of these complaints weren’t made up, too? It has been more likely that Democrats are the ones dealing out the hatred and violence. Look up Trump’s inauguration videos if you’ve forgotten.

A state rep, Geoff Diehl, worked as the co-chairman of the state’s Trump campaign and noted how often he heard of anti-Trump bias around town:

“I was on a regular basis being informed about people having lawn signs stolen, so I would have to go deliver new ones. People were afraid to even talk about it at work or at social settings because of the harassment they were feeling they got back.”

Diel said that there was “little in the way of that hotline being promoted that would encourage Trump supporters to call in” and was widely assumed to be for liberals only.

Here are some of the complaints logged by Trump supporters:

A Woburn woman voting with her daughter, who was clad in a “Make America Great Again” shirt, said her girl was “verbally assaulted” and “poll workers refused to help.”

A Lakeville man claiming someone wrote “Racist” on his Trump signs in his yard, then took the signs days later.

A woman with a Trump sticker on her car reported being harassed by drivers as she commuted to work each day, and she “wanted to make sure that … it’s happening to both sides.”

Healey’s office is following up on the complaints with the help of local, state, and federal officers. But perhaps it’s time to put those resources to better use. Raising one's middle finger isn’t a crime; that might just be a bad Boston driver, as Carr quipped. But as Healy said in her statement announcing the hotline, "At this time of deep uncertainty for many people, we will continue to be a government agency that prioritizes the safety and well-being of all families.”

Okay, sure, but how about saving those tax dollars for an actual threat -- say, terrorism -- instead of using them to protect people's delicate feelings?