Given a hate crime incident, explain why it qualifies as a hate crime.
A group of teens attacked a homeless man and shouted homophobic slurs at him.
This incident qualifies as a hate crime because it shows evidence of bias-motivated violence, in which an individual is targeted because of their perceived membership in a certain social group or category. In this case, the homeless man appears to have been attacked because of his perceived sexual orientation, as evidenced by the homophobic slurs shouted at him by the group of teens. Hate crimes are criminal offenses that involve prejudice against a particular group, and this incident meets that criterion, making it a hate crime.