In response to recent attacks downtown and near campus, WUU denounces and calls for vigilance in investigating and prosecuting all hate crimes against our communities. Everyone in the community is diminished when crimes of hate occur, go unanswered, or are not prosecuted. It is the responsibility of all residents of Wisconsin to actively be, not just anti-racist, but anti-xenophobic, anti-misogynist, anti-agist, anti-homophobic, and anti-transphobic. We ask the Campus and Madison Police Departments, the justice system, and all public officials to be transparent and clear in their communication with the community during and after hate crime investigations. We further encourage all members of the community to actively look for ways to come together to stand against acts of hate and support organizations and community groups who are working to bring financial and mutual aid resources to those who have been most impacted.
(The 1968 federal hate crimes statute made it a crime to use, or threaten to use, force to willfully interfere with any person because of race, color, religion, or national origin and because the person is participating in a federally protected activity, such as public education. In 2009, Congress added new federal protections against crimes based on gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Wisconsin law defines a hate crime as intentionally targeting a person or property against whom a crime is committed in whole or in part because of the actor’s belief or perception regarding the race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or ancestry of that person or the owner or occupant of that property, whether or not the actor’s belief or perception was correct.)