ALBANY – Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor (R, East Fishkill) is introducing legislation that would make the reporting of a fake bias crime a felony. At present, that crime is a misdemeanor.
Lalor said those hoaxes “waste police resources, rip at the fabric
of society and unnecessarily instill fear in the community.”
The lawmaker pointed to two hoaxes in New York in 2016 as examples. In
December, a Muslim woman in New York City claimed three men attacked her,
yelling “Donald Trump,” calling her a terrorist and attempting
to tear off her traditional head scarf. She later recanted her story,
admitting that she lied because she broke her curfew and her father was
increasingly mad that she was dating a Catholic and becoming more Western.
In May, three SUNY Albany students were indicted for falsely reporting
that they had been attacked by several white men who were yelling racial
slurs. One of the students has admitted to the hoax and was allowed to
plead guilty to a civil offense with a $120 fine and 100 hours of community
service.
“We need to send a message that we will not tolerate these attempts
to divide, waste police resources and unnecessarily frighten communities,”
Lalor said. “These are serious crimes, with serious impacts and they
deserve to be classified as felonies.”
Lalor also pointed to one high-profile case in Dutchess County several
years ago.
“I grew up in Wappinger with Tawana Brawley grabbing the headlines when I was a kid,” Lalor said. “That ruined lives and tore apart the community in many ways, all for a hoax.”
Brawley was the teen African-American girl who in 1987, claimed she was
attacked by white men who sexually abused her. A state investigation concluded
she made up the story to avoid being punished by her stepfather.
