Today was just like any other day in a small college town named Laramie with a population of 27,000 people. The University of Wyoming is about the only thing happening tonight on this cool evening in October. At a local bar near the campus is where you probably could find most of the young adults in this town. Tonight though, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, two good friends would do something never imagined possible in the city of Laramie. Aaron decided that he wanted rob a guy that happened to attend the nearby university. It started out as just a robbery, but would later become deadly. Aaron pretended that he was gay so that he could pick up a guy by the name of Matthew Shepard who happened to be gay. His plan was to lure him outside to his truck and rob him. Russell and Aaron kidnapped Matthew and took him to a deserted road not far from the bar. On a dirty road, pitch black and not being able to see more than five feet in front of you, Aaron pulled out a .357 Magnum and began to pistol whip Matthew until he gave him his wallet. After beating Matthew with a pistol, Aaron and Russell tied him up to wooden fence rail and drove off. With a cracked skull and bleeding like a waterfall Matthew was left for dead for some 16 hours in the freezing cold before anyone found him. Matthew Shepard died five days later, but his life story will be told forever.
             Hate crimes are not always exclusive to people, but also committed against one's property like; criminal trespass, mob action, theft, telephone harassment, or disorderly conduct. If these heinous acts aren't dealt with swiftly, it will lead to more severe crimes. Under Illinois State law, a hate crime is a Class 4 felony for a first offence and a Class 2 felony for a second offence.
             A crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim because of the actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any pers...