I did not see anything in the story where Balmer said he “hates Jews”:
“Balmer called 911 following the attack early Sunday,” reports PennLive, “identified himself by name and told operators Shapiro needs to know he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.”’
This is per the search warrant obtained by PennLive.
During the call, Balmer allegedly added that he needed to “stop having my friends killed” and that “our people have been put through too much by that monster.”
The context is that Shapiro had signed an order that severely restricted pro-Palestinian protest and social media posts by state employees on their own time.
Murder is murder, and murder usually involves some form of hate. Hating Shapiro because of his policies is still hate, but it is a factor in the sentencing only if the state can characterize it as antisemitism.
If having an unfavorable view of Israel is a crime, then most Americans are guilty.
