美国国家公共电台 NPR--Can the alleged Buffalo gunman be prosecuted under the Emmitt Till antilynching act?

Can the alleged¹ Buffalo² gunman be prosecuted³ under the Emmitt Till antilynching act?

Transcript⁴

NPR's A Martinez talks to Adolphus Belk, Jr., a professor at Winthrop University in South Carolina, who says it is possible that the alleged shooter can be prosecuted under the act.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The shooting in Buffalo comes less than two months after President Joe Biden signed legislation which bans lynching. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act allows hate crimes which result in death or serious bodily injury to be prosecuted as a lynching. So can the alleged Buffalo gunman be prosecuted under that new law? For that, we're joined by Adolphus Belk Jr., a professor of political science and African American studies at Winthrop University. Professor, I just want to start off by just asking you how you're feeling and thinking about what happened in Buffalo over the weekend.

ADOLPHUS BELK: It's another one of those heart-wrenching stories that seems to be on repeat in this country in all sorts of places - schools, grocery stores, religious institutions, movie theaters. And this one especially hits home because I went to undergraduate school in central New York, just a ways east of western New York, and had many good college friends who were from Buffalo and from that community. So my heart goes out to the people of the East Side and everything that they're enduring and will endure.

MART?NEZ: Now, federal prosecutors⁵ are already classifying this violent act of racism⁶ as a hate crime. How do you think that will affect the investigation⁷ and the prosecution⁸ of this case?

BELK: Well, I think that there are levels to how to bring a case forward. And already, you can see that the Erie County district attorney has filed first-degree murder charges. There's going to be some cooperation, I think, between the district attorney in Erie County and the state. But then you have the federal level of analysis and the possibility of bringing federal charges against the assailant. And that could involve some combination of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which was signed into law by the president back in March, or it could involve the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crime Act of 2009. So federal prosecutors would have different tools at their disposal to figure out how they want to pursue a case, given the evidence that they gather against the assailant.

MART?NEZ: You mention it would be a combination. Would they have to choose one or the other or, as you said, can they use a little bit of both?

BELK: Well, they would be able to bring him up on whatever charges they thought were applicable to the case at hand. The Emmett Till Act - you know, oftentimes, because of the name that's attached to that measure, there's a tendency to look backward and to think about lynching as it was exercised against Black and brown people and others who were targeted many, many years ago, when there is a clear attempt to deal with lynching as it's manifested today, especially with people who coordinate⁹ their attacks or attempted attacks with others. And so it's going to be important for prosecutors to determine if the assailant acted alone. Did he act with assistance? Who assisted him and how? And charges could be brought against others if it is determined¹⁰ that they helped him commit these acts.

MART?NEZ: So based on what we know so far - and I know it's very, very early, professor - can this qualify, possibly, as part of the Antilynching Act?

BELK: It's possible. And as you noted¹¹, it's early and we have to be very careful in how we discuss these things and analyze¹² them so early in the process. But still, federal prosecutors would have different measures at their disposal, from the Emmett Till Antilynching Act to the Shepard and Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act. And if one fails, they could turn to the other, in addition to existing laws that criminalize and provide punishments for the behavior that the assailant committed over the weekend.

MART?NEZ: And, professor, I think about what's happened just in the last few years. You think about what just happened this weekend; a 2015 shooting at a Black church in Charleston, S.C.; in 2019, Latinos being targeted at a Walmart in El Paso. Why do you think we're seeing what feels like a surge of racially motivated hate crimes?

BELK: And the attack at the Sikh temple outside of Wisconsin and a whole host of incidents.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. There's a list. Yeah, there's a list we could bring up. Yeah.

BELK: There is a long and macabre¹³ list of these incidents. And the data bears it out. According to statistics compiled by the FBI, there has been an increase in hate crimes in just the last year. And that's something that's been trending upward. And when we see white supremacists, like the assailant, who ascribe to white nationalism, replacement¹⁴ theory, there's this belief that racial and ethnic¹⁵ minorities, religious minorities and others constitute a threat to the safety and stability of the white population in the United States. And folks, such as the assailant, will reach out, lash¹⁶ out at those who constitute the alleged offending culture.

Such white nationalist activity and resentment¹⁷ is triggered by increased political and economic competition from people of color, as well as increased economic hardship or stagnation¹⁸. This is someone who reported being radicalized from his travels on the internet during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he went really deep into those things and became motivated, developed a deep hatred¹⁹ of people of color and religious minorities, especially Jewish folk.

MART?NEZ: Yeah.

BELK: And so the danger here is in not treating the problem for what it is - white nationalism sparking domestic terrorism.

MART?NEZ: That's Adolphus Belk Jr., professor of political science and African American studies at Winthrop University. Professor, thank you very much.

BELK: Thank you.

1 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

2 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

3 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

4 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

6 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

9 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

13 macabre   

adj.骇人的，可怖的

参考例句：

• He takes a macabre interest in graveyards.他那么留意墓地，令人毛骨悚然。
• Mr Dahl was well-known for his macabre adult stories called 'Tales of the Unexpected'.达尔先生以成人恐怖小说集《意料之外的故事》闻名于世。

14 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

15 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

16 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

17 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

18 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

19 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。