Brossard hit-and-runs: both Asian
The two people targeted in Brossard this week were Asian, one killed and the other seriously injured in hit-and-run incidents by the same driver. A suspect has been arrested. CBC reports that Longueuil police are determined to deny that it was a hate crime, whereas the Asian community in the area has already experienced harassment because of Covid.
Chris 14:18 on 2020-09-12 Permalink
There’s zero evidence presented that race was a factor, only people’s hunches. The police caught the guy, so it’s entirely possible they have actual evidence we are not aware of. There aren’t a lot of pedestrians/cyclists in that area generally, and it was raining that evening, thus presumably even less than usual. Is it really so implausible that it happened to be a new immigrant (generally poorer, without car) that was unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Were they hit from behind? If so, he may have not even known their race. But alas even such basic dynamics of the hits are not discussed in the articles.
Kate 14:42 on 2020-09-12 Permalink
Chris, did you read about the woman who was killed? She was hardly a poor, sad immigrant. She came here and started a business and ran half-marathons for kicks. The family had a car – her son called her to find out if she’d like him to pick her up, since she was (by choice, because she walked and ran a lot for training purposes) walking home in the rain. But there was no answer.
No, we don’t know that the suspect selected his victims because of their racial appearance, but he did select two people whose only other “sin” was that they were not in powered vehicles when he mowed them down.
Michael Black 14:45 on 2020-09-12 Permalink
So in order to claim an “evil car driver” you need to explain away racism?
It was 6:15. If there were fewer people out, doesn’t it make it easier to do this, and to target Asian people?
This isn’t something made up. There have been stories in recent months about Asian people being the target, specifically because of the of pandemic. The article even has a women at an organization saying she’s getting hate email.
Whether or not someone is charged with a hate crime, people are feeling persecuted. And that is very real.
Chris 16:14 on 2020-09-12 Permalink
>The family had a car.
I stand corrected.
>No, we don’t know that the suspect selected his victims because of their racial appearance
This was my point. And further, the police are saying _exactly the opposite_.
>So in order to claim an “evil car driver” you need to explain away racism?
Uhhhh, what? Where am I explaining away racism?!? I’m saying there is no evidence for racism here. The burden of proof is on the people making the claim. What’s the evidence it was racially motivated? That other people are the victim of racism for other reasons (ex: your covid example; which I don’t dispute) is not evidence for anything in this particular case.
Kate 19:03 on 2020-09-12 Permalink
Chris, you’re suddenly believing the police on a racism matter?
When two people are mowed down in sequence by the same perpetrator, it doesn’t strike me as unreasonable to look at what the victims had in common – in this case, that they were both Asian. CBC says “nearly 12,000 residents of Brossard identified as Chinese in the 2016 census, out of a population of 85,721” so yes, it could be coincidence that both victims were Asian. However, Asians have been reporting harassment in Brossard as elsewhere because of Covid, so that puts a little more weight on the plausibility scale that this was a racist act.
No, we don’t know, and if the alleged perpetrator continues to deny it (and the police to credit him) then it may not figure in the already long list of charges against him.
Chris 20:54 on 2020-09-12 Permalink
>Chris, you’re suddenly believing the police on a racism matter?
It’s not the police being accused of racism here. What would the motivation be for the police to lie about whether a killer was racist or not?
>Asians have been reporting harassment in Brossard as elsewhere because of Covid
Many incidences of racism exist, therefore this incident was racist. It’s fallacious reasoning.
Remember the ‘clearly anti-Semitic desecration’ of a synagogue back in May? That was much more plausibly bigoted, but then turns out it wasn’t. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions about motivations when simple facts about the incident are not yet known. It was cold and rainy, were the victims bundled up and thus not very identifiable? Maybe their faces were also masked? Were they hit from behind or face-on? Was he driving at a speed where there was time to even see someone clearly? Can we not wait for such basic facts before jumping to conclusions?
Kate 13:48 on 2020-09-13 Permalink
Chris, there may not be discernible facts here, because the impulse that caused the perpetrator to mow two people down with his vehicle can only be known to him. He is, at least, facing enough charges to keep him locked up and off the road for a long time, which will have to suffice.
Chris 18:18 on 2020-09-13 Permalink
>there may not be discernible facts here
And yet the article puts their race in the headline, and devotes most of the article to the topic of race too. There seems to be an impulse these days to make everything always about race.
>the impulse that caused the perpetrator to mow two people down with his vehicle can only be known to him
Mostly agree, but there could be evidence to strongly suggest bigotry. A manifesto, a history on social media, a confession, etc. Just as there could be evidence to strongly suggest no bigotry. But we’ve got nothing (yet?) either way.
And just in case there is any confusion: I fully agree he should be locked up.