Calling 9-1-1 On Innocent Blacks, A Hate Crime?

New York State Sen. Jesse Hamilton has proposed the 9-1-1 Anti-Discrimination Bill, which would make it illegal to call the police on innocent Black people. The move comes after a Trump supporter called police on him earlier this month.

Hamilton later uploaded a video of the woman who spoke of her loyalty to Trump, taking exception to his anti-Trump literature. Hamilton was campaigning in Crown Heights, Brooklyn at the time of the incident.

“A Trump supporter called the police on me today, my crime was speaking to constituents about immigration and Trump’s racist policies,” Hamilton said. “The pattern of targeting Black men and women for being Black and alive in the communities we all share has to stop. #LivingWhileBlack.”

A Trump supporter called the police on me today, my crime was speaking to constituents about immigration and Trump’s racist policies.

The pattern of targeting Black men and women for being Black and alive in the communities we all share has to stop.#LivingWhileBlack pic.twitter.com/Lmq4MGH8kB

— Jesse Hamilton (@SenatorHamilton) August 10, 2018

Off camera, the woman pulled out her phone to report him to the authorities. When a police officer did show up, he informed the 911 caller that Hamilton had not committed any illegal acts.

“Waiting for your friends at a Starbucks is not a 911 call — it’s a call of intimidation,” Sen. Jesse Hamilton told Patch. “That’s gonna be a hate crime. This pattern of calling the police on black people going about their business and participating in the life of our country has to stop.”

If the bill is passed, it would mean that police would be required to investigate and determine whether or not the allegations are founded. They would then take the appropriate actions. Falsely reporting an innocent person of color could mean that the perpetrator is charged with a hate crime.