Total Number Of Hate Crime Murders Hits A Record In 2018, FBI Reports, While Crimes Of Bias Also Remain High
While the number of crimes dipped slightly compared to 2017, Brian Levin, co-author of the report said, "We're seeing a leaner and meaner type of hate crime going on.'' The majority of hate crimes were motivated by bias against race and ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.
CBS News:
FBI Hate Crimes Data Released Today: Hate Crime Murders Hit Record In 2018; Crimes Targeting Transgender People Soar
Hate crime murders in the U.S. reached a 27-year high in 2018, according to data released Tuesday by the FBI. Hate crime murders totaled 24, which includes the 11 worshipers slain last year at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the deadliest anti-Semitic crime in U.S. history. New FBI statistics show hate crimes overall were down slightly in 2018 following three years of increases. Of 16,039 law enforcement agencies who participate in the hate crime data collection program, 2,026 agencies reported 7,120 hate crime incidents involving 8,496 offenses, meaning some involved multiple criminal charges. Most of the hate-crime incidents, 7,036, were "single bias," while the rest stemmed from multiple biases. The incidents involved 8,646 victims. (Bonaghue, 11/12)
CNN:
Hate Crimes Remain At Heightened Levels, FBI Report Finds
The latest report found that 7,120 hate crime incidents were reported by law enforcement agencies to the FBI in 2018, just 55 fewer than had been reported in 2017. Between 2016 and 2017, the FBI found a 17% increase in reported incidents. The current total included 7,036 hate crime incidents involving a single identified type of bias against a perpetrator's victims, and 84 incidents involved more than one type of bias motivating the perpetrator. (Cole and Campbell, 11/12)
NPR:
FBI Reports Dip In Hate Crimes, But Rise In Violence
Levin said the increase in assaults was almost evenly distributed across demographic groups, with African-Americans, Jews, whites, gays and Latinos targeted the most. As in previous years, the majority of hate crimes reported in 2018 were motivated by bias against race and ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. (Treisman, 11/12)
The New York Times:
Hate-Crime Violence Hits 16-Year High, F.B.I. Reports
The data points toward a change from young people committing vandalism and other property crimes toward more deliberate attacks on people, said Brian Levin, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, who produced an independent analysis of the F.B.I.’s figures. “We’re seeing a shift from the more casual offender with more shallow prejudices to a bit more of an older assailant who acts alone,” Mr. Levin said. “There’s a diversifying base of groups that are being targeted. We’re getting back to more violence.” (Hassan, 11/12)
