Yes, I realize that - my point is charging someone with murder/s (not self-defense) should suffice to prosecute to the highest degree, whatever that is in a given state...Given there is no additional penalty for something called a "hate crime" or a "bias crime" I really don't see the purpose other than making society feel better, perhaps.
"...the empty desks of 20 children marked absent today, and forever"
-Poet Richard Blanco at President Obama's Inauguration, 01/21/13