A group of Hispanic young men killed a Black man in California after a disagreement with him and other Black students, but law enforcement are hesitant to label it a hate crime:

With no arrests issued in Fridays shooting death of 14-year-old Vernon Eddins, and detectives still uncertain if race was a factor in the slaying, city leaders are hesitant to convene the type of community meetings that often follow high-profile hate crimes.

I dont want to be half-cocked with all this innuendo, Councilman Jim Navarro said. I want to make sure we have the right facts before we act.[Ed. note: Quotation marks and apostrophes. Too much to ask?]

Well, let’s go about this fully cocked. Give us the facts, Councilman Jim:

Eddins was part of a group of African-American students that got into an argument with a group of Hispanic males in Union City around 3:21 p.m. Friday, police said.

One of the Hispanics brandished a gun and fired it toward the fleeing African Americans, hitting Eddins, who ran onto the campus of Barnard-White Middle School and collapsed, police said.

Eddins also had been attacked by Hispanic assailants earlier in the year, said his mother, Angelique Paige.

Why are these groups of boys even labeled according to race and ethnicity? God damn. Can’t an asshole just shoot someone today without having to represent an entire group of people in the process? You know, like in the good old days.

Police unsure of motive in shooting death of teen [Tri-Valley Herald]