An Indiana University law professor says having a hate crime law at the state level would likely help prosecutors in the recent case of an attack on a Muslim woman in Bloomington.
Police say Triceten Bickford tried to strangle a Muslim woman outside Sofra Cafe in Bloomington on Saturday. He's also accused of yelling racial comments and attempting to remove her headscarf.
Indiana requires police to collect data on hate crimes, but it's one of only five states that doesn't have legislation addressing hate crime penalties.
Professor Jeannine Bell says that makes it harder to prosecute some bias-related cases.
"There's a cross burning in the St. Paul area, and the prosecutor was only able to prosecute it under very few statutes because there wasn't a burn spot on the lawn," Bell says. "So you couldn't use arson statutes. And there were all other sorts of statutes that were inapplicable because of the facts of the situation."
Bell says the lack of state laws addressing hate crimes could also mean they are far less recognized than in other states.
"That means that citizens may not know that crimes directed at them because of bias are actually crimes," she says. "They may be encouraged to not report them to the police."
Rep. Gregory Porter wrote a letter, D-Indianapolis, earlier this week calling for the general assembly to pass hate crime legislation during the upcoming session.
He's been advocating for the change for years but has been unsuccessful.
Related:
Watch the victim discuss the attack.