Hate crimes in LA County ‘continue to hit record levels,’ report finds

Hate crimes in Los Angeles County remained near record highs in 2024, despite slight declines in several types of violent incidents, according to a report released Thursday.

Findings from the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, presented at a news conference in Koreatown, said there were 1,355 reported victims of hate crimes in the county in 2024, a 1% decrease from the previous year.

“To give a sense of the magnitude, all of this represents an average of four hate crimes per day,” said Commission Executive Director Robin Thoma.

Toma said hate crimes that continue at historic rates locally can be attributed in part to better reporting, law enforcement agencies, and community organizations like LA vs. With a partnership between Hate and 211LA.

Anti-Black hate crimes accounted for the majority of reported incidents at 51%, with the number of victims increasing from 325 in 2023 to 345 last year. The data maintain a decades-long pattern of overrepresentation of black individuals as victims of racially motivated incidents. The report cited an incident in December of last year, when a black woman driving her car in Long Beach said a white male offender yelled at her and started pointing a gun at her “about 8 times.”

Professor Brian Levine, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said that “socially victimized groups” bear the brunt of violent hate crimes. According to the commission’s report, simple assaults, aggravated assaults and robberies increased to varying degrees, including vandalism – accounting for 88% of all reported hate crimes.

Hate crimes against the Middle Eastern community increased sevenfold, the report found, the largest increase of any racial category. Crimes that contain conflict-related language account for 6% of all incidents in the Middle East. Nearly half of these occurred in school settings, the report added.

The number of hate crimes in which victims were identified as Latino also increased from 2023 to 2024, with 25 more incidents reported, for a total of 71.

Levine said the trend may be attributed to deflationary rhetoric about immigrant communities by elected officials in Washington.

The victimization of immigrants and transgender people enabled the development of negative stereotypes, which in turn influenced the targeting of victims,” ​​he said.

In October of last year, according to another incident cited in the commission’s report, a Latina certified nurse’s assistant was repeatedly beaten and injured by a black patient who told her: “I hate Central America, go back to your country.”

Toma said information about the immigrant or Latino communities can be confusing because some are afraid to report incidents for fear of repercussions from immigration enforcement.

Sheriff Robert Luna, who also spoke at a news conference Thursday, said no reporting party will be investigated by his agency for their immigration status.

“I wear this uniform, and everyone looks at me differently because I wear this uniform,” Luna said. “But on the weekends, if I go to Home Depot, not in uniform, I look behind me at my reality, and so I have a sense that we’re in for some challenges.”

The commission’s report stated that almost all crimes against gays resulted in violence, with a 3% increase in all reported incidents. According to the report, crimes against non-binary individuals also increased, but there was a slight decrease in incidents against the LGBTQ+ community as a whole.

Bambi Salcedo, president of the TransLatina@Coalition, said the report reflects the “reality” of transgender individuals in LA County and nationally.

“This year alone, at least 52 trans people [nationally] “That means at least one of us is killed every week of the year,” Salcedo said.

The report said that the number of Asian victims fell from 70 in 2023 to 52 in 2024. Gang-related crime also declined after a historic high in 2023.

Religion-based hate crimes have primarily targeted Jewish victims, accounting for 80% of the total, but have fallen to 202 of 244 reported incidents, according to county data. Anti-Muslim crimes – which make up the second largest majority of incidents – rose from 19 to 21 crimes. Scientists were identified as victims in 16 incidents last year, compared to 10 in 2023.

“These findings should be worrisome, reflecting our concern about the persistence of high levels of hatred that will continue to perpetuate the political climate,” Toma said.