GOP Rep. Zach Nunn suggests laws against hate crime aren’t needed

Iowa Republican Rep. Zach Nunn concurred with a radio host’s viewpoint that laws against hate crimes are unnecessary.

Nunn represents Iowa’s third district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is running for reelection this year.

Nunn appeared on the Simon Conway Show on Jan. 31 in Des Moines, Iowa. During the interview, Conway discussed Michael Cassidy, a former congressional candidate who was charged with a hate crime for vandalizing a Satanic Temple display in the Iowa State Capitol. 

“I don’t understand hate crimes at all,” Conway said. “You smack me in the mouth, that’s assault. You smack me in the mouth because I’m Jewish, that’s assault. It’s no different. It’s still assault and you shouldn’t be charged with anything else. It’s like if I smack you in the mouth because you’re in Congress, is that a hate crime?”

“​​Yeah, exactly,” Nunn responded, “you’re absolutely right.” 

Nunn went on to suggest that laws against hate crimes were leading to harsher than deserved punishments for offenders.

“We don’t want to have a two-tiered system of justice where certain people can be charged with additional crimes that go above and beyond,” Nunn said. “If you’re going to charge somebody with a crime because of something they did against someone then you need to make sure that crime fits the punishment. What we can’t do is charge them with several different issues because you can’t get them on the one or maximize the punishment beyond what they’re already getting.”

Hate crimes in the United States are prosecuted both federally and at the state level. Federally, hate crimes are addressed by the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009. The law empowers federal authorities to intervene in cases where crimes are committed due to a person’s race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

FBI data from October 2023 showed that reported hate crime incidents increased from 10,840 in 2021 to 11,634 in 2022. More than half of these incidents targeted Black people.

Nunn provided the following statement in response to this article: “Every single American deserves respect and is guaranteed equal protections under the law. Everyone who commits a crime should be prosecuted to the fullest extent and held accountable for their actions.”

Nunn’s Democratic challengers include veteran Lanon Baccam and nonprofit leader Melissa Fine. A candidate will be chosen in the June 4 primary.