The National Center for Victims of Crime

HATE CRIME

In 2007, 7,624 hate crime incidents were reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by local law enforcement agencies.[1]
In 2007, 5,408 hate crime offenses were committed against persons (as opposed to property). Of these, 47 percent were intimidation, 31 percent were simple assault, and 21 percent were aggravated assault. Nine murders and two forcible rapes were reported as hate crimes.[2]
In 2007, racial bias motivated 51 percent of single-bias hate crime incidents; bias based on religious beliefs motivated 18 percent; bias based on sexual orientation motivated 17 percent; bias based on ethnicity or nationality motivated 13 percent; and bias based on disability motivated 1 percent.[3]
Of the 4,956 victims of single-bias incidents that were motivated by race, 69 percent were victims of an anti-black bias; an anti-white bias motivated crimes against 18 percent; an anti-Asian/Pacific Islander bias motivated crimes against 5 percent; and 2 percent were victims of an anti-American Indian/Alaskan Native bias.[4]
Single-bias anti-Hispanic incidents accounted for 62 percent of 1,347 reported victims of ethnicity-based bias.[5]
Of the 1,628 victims of religious bias-related offenses, 69 percent were victims of an anti-Jewish bias; anti-Islamic bias motivated crimes against 9 percent.[6]
Of the 1,512 reported victims of sexual-orientation bias, 59 percent were targeted because of a bias against gay males.[7]
In 2007, 84 people were victims of incidents involving bias against persons with disability; 64 were victims of an anti-mental disability bias and 20 of an anti-physical disability bias.[8]
In 2007, 6,965 known offenders committed crimes motivated by their perceived biases. The majority of these offenders (63 percent) were white and 21 percent were black.[9]
In 2008, anti-Semitic incidents in the United States fell 7 percent to 1,352 from their 2007 level of 1,460.[10]
Among the anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2008, there were 702 incidents of vandalism and 613 incidents of harassment.[11]
On college campuses in 2007, there were 94 anti-Semitic incidents nationwide compared to the 2006 level of 88.[12]
A total of 227 anti-Semitic acts were reported at middle and high schools in 2007, compared to 193 in 2006.[13]
In 2008, 1,677 hate and bias incidents against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ) victims were reported to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. These incidents were committed by 2,575 offenders and affected 2,424 victims-2 percent more victims than in 2007. [14]
In 2008, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs recorded 29 homicides against LGBTQ individuals, an increase of 28 percent over 2007. Victims reported 138 sexual assaults and 382 incidents involving a weapon.[15]
In 2008, there was a 20 percent increase in hate and bias incidents against LGBTQ people involving multiple offenders targeting an individual.[16]
In 2008, the National Coalition for the Homeless documented 27 lethal attacks against homeless individuals by housed persons and 79 non-lethal attacks, including 54 beatings, 3 firesettings, 9 rapes or sexual assaults, and 5 incidents of police brutality.[17]
In 2007, 35 percent of students ages 12 to 18 had been exposed to hate-related graffiti at school, and 10 percent reported someone directing hate-related words at them.[18]
In 2007, female students were more likely to report gender-related hate words than were males (3 percent versus 1 percent). White students were less likely to report race-related hate words than students of other races or ethnicities (3 percent of white students compared to 7 percent of black students, 6 percent of Hispanics, 11 percent of Asians, and 8 percent of students of other races).[19]

[1] Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Hate Crime Statistics, 2007," (Washington, DC: GPO, 2008), Table 1, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2007/table_01.htm (accessed August 27, 2009).

[2] Ibid., calculated from data in Table 2, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2007/table_02.htm (accessed August 31, 2009).

[3] Ibid., calculated from data in Table 1.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid., Table 1, Table 9, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2007/table_01.htm (accessed August 31, 2009).

[10] Anti-Defamation League, "2008 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents," (New York: Anti-Defamation League, 2009), http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_Domestic/2008_audit.htm (accessed August 27, 2009).

[11] Anti-Defamation League, "2007 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents," (New York: Anti-Defamation League, 2008), http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_Domestic/Audit_2007.htm (accessed August 28, 2009).

[12] Ibid., "Anti-Jewish Incidents on Campus."

[13] Ibid., "Anti-Jewish Acts in Schools."

[14] National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, "Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Violence in 2008," (New York: National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 2009), 3-4, http://www.ncavp.org/common/document_files/Reports/2008%20HV%20Report%20smaller%20file.pdf (accessed August 27, 2009).

[15] Ibid., 5.

[16] Ibid., 55.

[17] National Coalition for the Homeless, "Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness in 2008," (Washington, DC: National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009), 19, http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/hatecrimes/hate_report_2008.pdf (accessed August 28, 2009).

[18] National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2008," (Washington, DC: U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, 2009), 33, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009022.pdf (accessed August 31, 2009).

[19] Ibid., 34.

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