Why do we allow hoaxers to get away with creating fake hate crimes that damage the reputations of people, cities, schools and companies and make it harder for real victims to be believed?

In an article for the New York Post, Kyle Smith argues that it’s time to start treating hate-crime hoaxers as criminals. He used the example of the recent Whole Foods cake hoaxer Rev. Jordan Brown, a gay man who claimed he ordered a cake that said “Love Wins” but when he got home, he claimed, he noticed that someone at the grocery bakery had added the word “fag” to the cake.