In Jackson Mississippi, three young white men were sentenced for murdering a 47-year-old black man. The victim James Craig Anderson was assaulted and then ran over by a car. The men all under 25 were charged with commission of a hate crime with one individual also facing two life sentences. The three men were charged for committing a hate crime after they openly admitted "they were out hunting black people to attack." The prosecutor in the case stated that the young men had attacked people of color on occasions before and in larger groups. They would rationalize and choose who to attack based on, by specifically targeting individuals who they believed were intoxicated or homeless. They believed people of this background would be unlikely to contact the police. As the case was heard before a jury, the prosecutor described the long history of discrimination and racism that the state of Mississippi has faced, referring to it as the “inhumanity” of racism. In addition to the three young men who murdered the victim, seven other individuals who were apart of this “gang” await to be sentenced on charges for conspiracy and hate crime charges. The rational- choice theory formed by Cesare Beccaria in the 18th century, states that an individual weighs the risk (negative outcomes) against the benefits (positive outcome) to make a rational choice in whether to commit a crime. I believe the event that took place can be perfectly explained using the rational-choice theory and show it in the defendants actions. In the minds of the three individuals charged with murdering the victim, the benefit of expressing and acting out their hates towards blacks outweighed the risk and thought of being punished. To further rationalize this risk, the group sought out individuals that they believed would be less likely to reach out to police, and whom they believed no one would care about, thus minimizing the risk factor, and making the benefits outweigh t