Cuomo-Pushed Legislation: You‘ll Be Charged With Hate Crime, Face Prison Time If Your 911 Call Is ‘Based On Race,’ Unnecessary

Following a viral Central Park incident, Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is pushing for a new law that would make it a hate crime, punishable by up to five years of prison time, to phone in a 911 call “based on race” that turns out to be “false” or unnecessary.

“We’ve seen 911 calls which are race-based, false calls. A false 911 call based on race should be classified as a hate crime in the state of New York,” Cuomo said at press briefing on Friday, according to The New York Post.

The legislation, first introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Felix Ortiz of Brooklyn, would also include “false” 911 calls based on gender and religion.

“[V]iolators could face between one and five years in prison, in accordance with the state’s hate crime statute ‘if the motivation for reporting such crime is motivated by a perception or belief about their race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation,'” Assemblyman Ortiz told the Post.