If the Leftists in the North Star State’s government have their way, the people of Minnesota may soon find the things they say and do on a list. Let’s face it, in the era of Google/Garland/Biden, we’re all probably on some list, somewhere, anyway. But this one will be unique. People already keep track of things people say and do so that those things can and will be used against them in the court of public opinion. How do you think people get canceled so quickly? But this list will be state-sponsored and codified by law.
The bill, HF 181, was introduced in January. According to the St. Cloud Times, it was drafted in response to a spike in anti-Asian hate during the pandemic. The paper wrote:
The changes would provide a way to measure the prevalence of bias incidents that either aren’t reported as crimes or fall short of the legal definitions. Driven in the past by Rep. Frank Hornstein, a Minneapolis DFLer who is Jewish, the hate crimes bill is now sponsored by Rep. Samantha Vang, a Hmong-American DFL lawmaker from Brooklyn Center.
The paper states that the initiative of House File 181 is to:
Separate from the reporting of hate crimes to the police — reports that are collected and reported annually by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension — the bill sets up a system to report incidents that fall short of criminal acts or are not reported because the victim chooses not to. People could report events to community groups that might be more trusted. And those reports could be gathered to provide a fuller idea of what is happening on the ground.
The obvious questions that need to be raised are:
- What constitutes an assault?
- What constitutes a slur?
- What constitutes hate?
The answers may well be whatever the aggrieved party decides they are. In fact, Fox News reported, “Each alleged incident would include information about the perceived offender and victim “relevant to that bias,” according to the law.”
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A friend of mine once told me a story of a male acquaintance of hers who worked in an office building. The man worked alongside a gay man. Now, the guy didn’t have any problems with gay people, but he didn’t know the gay man. So they didn’t talk on the elevator or chat around the water cooler or coffee machine. The gay man decided that this was unacceptable and had the first man fired because he didn’t say hi to him. The man wasn’t homophobic; he just didn’t make small talk with the gay guy. If this story is true, HF 181 could take situations like this and put them on steroids. Granted, it may not target individuals, at least at first, but it could justify whole swaths of legislation. Republican state Representative Walter Hudson told Fox that the legislation, which encompasses race, gender identity, and expression, could be used to thwart religious liberty. The phrase “actual and perceived” in the bill is particularly problematic. He said:
So the intention of whoever is being accused of exhibiting bias is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is how the person making the report feels. If the person making the report feels as though they have been the victim of an incident of bias, then they have been the victim of an incident of bias. And we’re going to create a database of all of these subjective, arbitrary, whimsical feelings that people have had, not anything objective or tangible at all.
He tweeted:
Perhaps an example would help.
Earlier in testimony, Commissioner Lucero offered one.
A person on the side of a road gets mean things yelled at them by a passing car. It makes them sad.
That's the sort of thing they want "documented and tracked."
4/8 pic.twitter.com/V19y6AURcG
— Walter Hudson (@WalterHudson) January 18, 2023
So, people could find themselves in deep trouble for not just what they may have done but for something that they did not intend to do or mean to do. And eventually for what they did not do. The time could come in Minnesota when the current version of the Pride flag, or BLM, or “In this house” sign, are more than expressions of one’s enlightenment. They could be the new lamb’s blood on the doorpost, to tell the Angel of Prosecution to pass by that house.
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