A crowd of 200 showed up for a vigil Sunday in memory of Sean Kennedy, who was killed May 16 in an apparent hate crime. Unfortunately, they buried the lead.

Supporters were asked to sign petitions in favor of local, state and federal hate-crime legislation. So many people showed up that organizers ran out of signup sheets.

“Let tonight be a perfect illustration of how a community can come together when it needs to,” said Melissa Moore, a volunteer coordinator with South Carolina Equality Coalition.

The FBI and Greenville County Sheriff’s Office are reviewing the Kennedy case to see if it should be classified as a hate crime. FBI spokesman Tom O’Neill has said that federal hate crime legislation doesn’t include sexual orientation.


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