Last week there was a stabbing attack in Dublin outside a school, which left a 5-year-old girl and 30-year-old woman in critical condition. The suspect was an Algerian immigrant who reportedly stabbed three children and two adults in the alleged crime.

Do the victims' lives matter in the situation? If you think they do, then that is racist and a hate crime, according to authorities in Northern Ireland.

Police in Northern Ireland are treating "Irish Lives Matter" graffiti seen in west Belfast as a "hate incident," according to the BBC.

Or in other words, a “thought crime.”

Thoughtcrime is a term used throughout 1984. It is defined as thoughts that go against the political ideology of those in power.

Thought Police are typically tasked with eliminating thoughtcrime, as well as for the social control of the population. Psychological monitoring allows authorities to punish thought criminals, who challenge political orthodoxy held by those in power.

The outlet reported that the graffiti appeared after signs saying the community "will no longer accept the re-housing of illegal immigrants" were put up in the Suffolk area.

Paul Maskey, a Sinn Féin member of Parliament, called the graffiti an "attempt to create fear and intimidate people."

Gerry Carroll, a member of the Legislative Assembly in West Belfast, said there was no place for this "racist poison."

Inspector Andrew Matson said, "We are treating the matter as a hate incident."

Ireland's government is also pushing an anti-hate speech law in the wake of riots that came in response to the stabbing.

According to Fox News, the legislation is intentionally vague and suggests people could be jailed for having certain memes saved or for being found in possession of books deemed politically offensive.

Nate Hochman, a staff writer for National Review, said the bill represents, "arguably the most radical legislation of its kind we've seen in the West."

“It criminalizes the mere possession of materials that are "likely to incite violence or hatred" — books, videos, or even memes on your phone,” Hochman added.

Protected characteristics listed in this proposed legislation include national or ethnic origin, as well as "transgender and a gender other than those of male and female."

It is probably safe to assume that the reason why Irish officials want to criminalize speaking about one's national origin is because they don’t want citizens making the connection that mass immigration increases crime. This is why they want to make it illegal to say that the psycho who went on a stabbing spree in Ireland was Algerian. Otherwise, people might start making the connection that they are not as safe when borders are wide open.

One of the many problems with “hate speech” laws is that it criminalizes the expression of ideas that are not inherently violent.

People can say abhorrent things that may be mean and hurt someone's feelings. But the point of free speech is to protect statements you don’t agree with or you do not like, not the other way around.

In a speech Friday, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar vowed to "modernize laws against hatred," according to Fox News.

All of this is going on in a so-called “liberal democracy.”

At this point, thoughts cannot be monitored. But what is going on here is the attempt to control language by making it difficult or impossible to say anything that does not conform to the ideology of those in power.

A society is not free if speech is classified as hateful just because some authority figure somewhere does not like it.

You cannot have a free society if citizens are fearful of repercussions from the government by speaking what is on their minds.

By manipulating language, you essentially destroy free thought.

And for the record, Irish Lives Matter.