In June of this year, two Marines, Keil Cronauer, 22, and Christopher Stanzel, 23, were arrested in Savannah, Georgia, for reportedly punching a 26-year old man named Kieran Daly in the back of the head outside a bar. Daly, who is gay, claims the men thought he had winked at them, were incensed, demanded respect for their military service and then called him "fag," or some variation.

When Daly tried to walk away, they punched him in the back of the head. The men were caught running away from the scene, and subsequently told police they were being harassed by a gay man.

The local District Attorney announced that the alleged assault will not be prosecuted as a hate crime, which is a felony, and the Marines will only face misdemeanor charges for supposedly punching Daly.

Georgia doesn't have a hate crimes law. But last year, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Law, which expanded federal hate crimes legislation to include crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (among others).

The potential crime committed in Georgia merits being investigated as a hate crime. The victim, Daly, believes it was a hate crime, and there are enough suspicions around the case to merit the federal government's involvement. Urge Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice to look into this case.

As Attorney General Eric Holder said himself after the expanded hate crimes law was signed, "The Federal government has a strong interest in protecting people from violent crimes motivated by such bias and bigotry." So let's see the federal government take action here.