The absurdity of "hate crimes"

Gay Defense Fails in NY Hate Crime -- Newsday.com: "Prosecutors said Fortunato and three other young men hatched a hate-inspired robbery scheme after they ran out of drugs and money on a weekend night. The group needed an easy victim, and Fortunato suggested they look for one in an Internet chat room frequented by gay men looking for sex partners, authorities alleged. They logged on and found Sandy, lured him out to Brooklyn's Plum Beach with a promise of a date and attacked him, prosecutors told jurors. Fortunato testified that he had a role in the crime but said hate had nothing to do with it. The 21-year-old said he was also gay, or at least bisexual. Jurors also heard testimony from three men who told of one-night stands with Fortunato. Prosecutors argued that under state hate crimes law, they didn't have to prove that Sandy's attackers hated gay men, only that they picked their victim because of his sexual orientation."

So the robbers are prosecuted for hate crime because, rather than robbing an old lady who happened to be walking down the sidewalk, they robbed a guy who was cruising for sex in a gay chat room.