Hill was approaching the Cracker Barrel with her daughter when, she says,

The man slung open the door pretty hard and fast and I had to push my daughter out of the way. I turned to the man and I just said, 'Excuse me sir, you need to watch yourself you almost hit my daughter in the face.' And from there it just went downhill.

West apparently flew into a rage, pushed her to the ground and began hitting and kicking her. Hill says he yelled, "You're a fucking black nigger bitch." According to police, Hill's daughter was "crying uncontrollably and her body [was] shaking/trembling" after the attack.

West has confessed to hitting Hill "after she spit on me and accused me of trying to hit her daughter with a door." Hill's lawyer Kip Jones says that she never spit on West or provoked him in any way, and that surveillance video from the Cracker Barrel will prove this.

Of course, there's absolutely no "provocation" that would make West's actions acceptable. He currently faces charges of misdemeanor battery, disorderly conduct and cruelty to children — a felony cruelty to children charge was dropped — but the Clayton County district attorney says she may file more felony charges. The FBI is also investigating whether a hate crime occurred.

Congress defines a hate crime as a "criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation." Given the slurs West yelled, it seems very likely his attack was motivated by racism (and sexism). The Anti-Defamation League also explains the need for special prosecution of hate crimes:

Hate crimes demand a priority response because of their special emotional and psychological impact on the victim and the victim's community. The damage done by hate crimes cannot be measured solely in terms of physical injury or dollars and cents. Hate crimes may effectively intimidate other members of the victim's community, leaving them feeling isolated, vulnerable and unprotected by the law.

West's crime seems to have very directly intimidated a member of Hill's community — her now-traumatized seven-year-old. The ADL says hate crimes hurt society by "making members of minority communities fearful, angry and suspicious of other groups — and of the power structure that is supposed to protect them." Hill's daughter is probably going to grow up a lot more "fearful, angry and suspicious" as a result of this attack, but she might be a little less so if justice is done.

Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis said yesterday that, "It's just terrible when something like this happens anywhere, let alone in one of our stores." But Cracker Barrel has been the site — and even the perpetrator — of racism before. Chris Rock's mother alleged in 2006 that Cracker Barrel had refused to serve her and her daughter. This accusation came after lawsuits from the U.S. Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for gender and racial bias and racist practices including allowing white employees to refuse to serve black customers. While Cracker Barrel itself didn't seem to have anything to do with West's assault on Hill, its track record shows racism is alive and well in America — something Hill's daughter had to learn too soon.

Update On The Racist Beatdown Of Tasha Hill At Georgia Cracker Barrel By Troy Dale West [Pandagon]
FBI: Beating At Cracker Barrel May Be Hate Crime [CNN]
GA: White Man Beats Down Black Woman In Front Of Her Child At Cracker Barrel [Pam's House Blend]

Yesterday opening statements were heard in the murder trial of Angie Zapata, which marks the first time someone has been tried under the sexual orientation section of Colorado's hate crime law, according to The New York Times. Zapata was killed in Greeley, Colorado, two weeks before her 19th birthday last summer. Andrade, 32, told the police that he met Zapata on the internet and they had a sexual encounter. He then found out that she was biologically male and attacked her with a fire extinguisher. In an affidavit, he said he thought he had "killed it," but Zapata tried to get up, so he hit her in the head again.

Andrade and Zapata communicated nearly 700 times via text message, cell phone, and computer between July 12 and 16 because Zapata said she was looking for a roommate, reports the Associated Press. The two spent the day together and ended up in Zapata's one-bedroom apartment. He told police that she performed oral sex on him, but wouldn't let him touch her. Andrade saw photos in the apartment that led him to ask about her gender. She told him, "I am all woman," according to Andrade.

Defense attorney Bradley Martin, who repeated referred to Zapata as "Justin," her birth name, said his client was deceived because her profile said she was a straight female. "This case is about a deception, and a reaction to that deception," said Martin, "Allen discovered that Angie, this girl he had spent the last night with, was in fact a man, and Allen snapped."

Prosecutors say Andrade plotted to kill Zapata 36 hours after figuring out that she was born male. "This is the person who spent time with her, talked to her and then, on the evening of July 16, picked up a fire extinguisher and bashed in her skull," said Brandi Nieto, a deputy district attorney, adding, "His statements will show he did this because she was transgender."

In a recorded phone conversation from jail between Andrade and his girlfriend, he said, ""It is not like I went up to a schoolteacher and shot her in the head or killed a straight law-abiding citizen." His attorney said he was just joking.

Andrade is facing life in prison for the first-degree murder charge and the hate crime charge carries an additional sentence of 3 years. Eleven states and the District of Columbia have hate-crime laws that cover gender identity. According to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, 21 transgender people were killed last year, but this is the first time any state's hate crime law has been applied to the murder of a transgendered person.

Murder Trial Tests Colorado Hate-Crime Statute [The New York Times]
Defense: Colo. Transgender Slaying About Deception [The Associated Press]

• A British woman is pregnant with Siamese twins who share only one body. If the babies survive, they will be Britain's first ever dicephalus twins. • New research indicates that mouthwash containing alcohol may increase the risk of oral cancer. • Speakers will meet this week to discuss the fate of the cosmetic surgery industry. • Amanda "Foxy Knoxy" Knox will stand trial this Friday for her role in the death of former roommate Meredith Kretcher. • A Ukrainian bride in Britain has placed advertisements for "decent" guests to attend her wedding. • OMG!! 4real!?! A 13-year-old girl sent 14,528 texts in one month. That's one text every two waking minutes. • Maternity wards across England have been forced to widen their doors to accommodate obese mothers. • A woman gives birth two days after being declared brain dead in a hospital in Oxford, England. • Over the weekend Paul and Caragh Brooks tied the knot at their local Taco Bell. • A baby western lowland gorilla (a rare and endangered species) was born at the National Zoo Saturday. • A Scottish hospital has banned flowers, because of their potential to carry dangerous bugs. • Here's an unexpected gender bias: recent layoffs have affected men at a greater rate than women. • A New York waiter has been charged with a hate crime after he played an Arab chant at a Jewish wedding reception. • War crime prosecutors have charged ex-Congo VP Jean-Pierre Bemba with encouraging the use of mass rape as a weapon against civilians. • A married couple was refused permission to adopt on the grounds that the husband is "too fat" to be a father. •

Image via MSNBC