Long Island Railroad Rider Charged with Hate Crime for Rant Caught on Video

Welcome to the world of social justice snowflakes on steroids.

An LIRR rider caught on camera ranting against two black women was charged with a hate crime that could land him behind bars, reports the New York Post.

The Queens DA charged 58-year-old Long Beach resident Edward Ruggiero with third-degree menacing as a hate crime and second-degree aggravated harassment – crimes punishable by up to a year in jail and $1,000 fine.

“The bigotry and hatred that the defendant is accused of manifesting and acting upon have no place in a civilized society – especially in Queens County, the most culturally diverse county in the nation,” Queens DA Richard Brown said in a statement.

Ruggiero was being held pending arraignment in Queens Criminal Court, the DA said.

This is obviously a goofy rant by  Ruggiero but does it really need the drama of government charges?

Whatever happened to "sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me"?

I would also like to know what triggered him.

If this were an NBA basketball game the refs would have called a double technical and that would have been the end of it.

-RW