America is becoming increasingly divided along political, religious, and racial lines.
Unfortunately, this has prompted us to automatically demonize certain races without understanding the facts of the situation.
The recent case of Oghaleoghene Atunu highlights this issue and shows why it is so important that we remain consistent in our prosecution of all crimes regardless of race.
On an otherwise regular day in Aurora, Colorado, 21-year-old resident Oghaleoghene Atunu was driving down a suburban street when he spotted three 11- and 12-year old boys walking home from school.
Oddly enough, Atunu began circling the area as if he were following them before pulling up behind them and suddenly doing the unthinkable – he hit the gas and jumped onto the sidewalk to mow down two out of three children with his vehicle.
Surveillance video showed that Atunu noticed his victims before driving towards them on purpose.
Despite both investigators and Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office confirming that the crash was intentional, many people were shocked when they found out that no hate crime charge would be filed against him due to lack of proof that he was targeting them because of their skin color.
Thanks to a tip from a local citizen, police were able to quickly identify him by his 2004 Buick Rendezvous car and arrest him shortly afterwards.
Although he doesn’t face a hate crime charge, he was charged with 15 other counts.
Despite footage showing his behavior leading up to the incident, Atunu maintains that he lost control of the vehicle and hit children before becoming scared and fleeing the scene.
Some argue there is no evidence proving Atune targeted boys specifically because of their skin color yet others insist that if races reversed it would automatically be considered a racial hate crime.
They also claim media provides biased coverage which further perpetuates the divide between different races. For now, hopefully a lengthy prison sentence will bring some solace knowing a monster who tried to harm innocent children is locked away in prison cell but unfortunately we may never know exact reason why this happened.
