Juneteenth Hate Crime?*

The news is buzzing with the story of a mob beating to death a motorist during Juneteenth celebrations in Texas. The AP reports:

An angry crowd beat a man to death after a vehicle he was riding in struck and injured a young girl, police said Wednesday.

Police believe 2,000 to 3,000 people were in the area for a Juneteenth celebration when the attack occurred Tuesday night.

The driver had stopped to check on the little girl at the entrance to an apartment complex when a group of men attacked him, authorities said. The passenger, David Rivas Morales, 40, got out to try to help the driver, but the crowd turned on him, said police Commander Harold Piatt.

Morales was beaten to death by as many as 20 men and left lying in a parking lot, Piatt said. A preliminary autopsy listed blunt force trauma as the cause of death.

The little girl, 3 or 4 years old, was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Now the AP mentions no races, but given that it was a Juneteenth celebration, it's quite possible the crowd was predominantly African-American. And the victim's last name -- Morales -- suggest he was a Latino. That doesn't mean race was a factor, but usually when a mob of one color kills someone of another, the story quickly develops a racial angle. We'll see where this one goes ...

* Update: A mob smashed up a car and beat up another motorist after a Juneteenth celebration in Milwaukee. Once again, though, the news story excludes any racial details.