Because you should never let a crisis go to waste.

The left is on something of a roll lately, and to maintain the momentum, it becomes necessary for activists to seek out expressions of hate to show how much work we have left to do.  After all, what's an activist unless there's something to protest against?

Unfortunately, some activists are apparently having trouble finding hate crimes and have to invent them.  Recently, a black man admitted placing a Confederate battle flag at a monument to black soldiers, claiming he didn't intend the act as a racial issue but instead as a protest against the flag.  That unconvincing story has kept him out of jail, for the moment.

No such luck for two other liberal activsts who blatantly faked hate crimes.  The first, a gay man who carved "homophobic slurs" into his arm and told authorities he was beaten because he is gay:

A man who reported someone beat him and carved a homophobic slur into his arm staged the attacks, authorities in rural Utah said Tuesday.

Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker said Rick Jones, 21, could face charges after officers investigating the series of reported attacks found inconsistencies in the evidence. The Delta man eventually acknowledged faking the harassment, Dekker said.

Brett Tolman, an attorney for Jones, said the reports were a cry for help initially directed toward people close to him, and Jones didn't realize how much attention they would get.

"I think it's such good evidence of the difficulties members of the gay community deal with, and some make better choices than others," Tolman said.

Jones has since begun mental health treatment, the lawyer said.

The purported attacks began with a beating at his family's pizza business in April that left Jones with head and facial bruising.

Five days later, the family's home was found spray-painted with a homophobic slur. On June 10, a rock and a molotov cocktail were thrown through the window of the home. That same day, the business was spray-painted, broken into and robbed of $1,000.

Jones told KSL-TV earlier this month he believed he was targeted because he is gay.

Dekker said prosecutors are considering possible charges including filing a false report and reckless burning.

Tolman said Jones didn't have any criminal intent and the outpouring of support after the allegations became public was a good message.

Note that authorities are not calling the other incidents a hate crime because they suspect Jones of being responsible for all of it.  But we should be understanding and compassionate because this is what gay people go through all the time.

Sheesh.

In another fake hate crime, a black man has been arrested for posting fake racist flyers outside a black church:

A Colorado Springs man was arrested after police believe he left racist messages outside a church.

Vincent Broughton, 44, who is black, is facing charges for committed a bias-motivated crime and disorderly conduct.

The signs were posted outside the New Covenant church that is predominately attended by African Americans. One sign references the KKK. Another reads, “Black men beware, you are the target.”

The messages had the congregation on edge.

“We locked our doors this morning, so we were inside, but it shouldn’t be that way. You shouldn’t have to lock your doors in the church, it’s just… I’m speechless,” said Pastor Roland Joyner.

Police said Broughton admitted to posting the flyers but did not explain why he targeted the church.

In America, it is cool to be a victim.  And the more pronounced your status as a victim, the more important you become.  All the popular people are now embracing victimhood and pointing the finger at...someone. 

One hundred years from now, historians – if there are historians – will look back on this time in amazement.  How could a rational, sane country embrace insanity like this, to the point that people actually go out of their way to create a situation where they can celebrate their victimhood? 

Given what they're doing with the battle flag and other symbols of the Confederacy, we may not hear of this period at all.