Hate crimes in Los Angeles area see highest spike in over a decade
Los Angeles has had its highest spike of hate crimes in over a decade with a 20 percent rise in reports last year, a report shows.
According to the LA County Commission on Human Relations, 635 such incidents were reported in the city in 2020, up from 530 in 2019, marking the largest number since 2008.
Black people, who constitute nine percent of county residents, were disproportionately targeted, accounting for 42 percent of incidents, the report said, noting anti-Black hate crimes increased by 35 percent overall in 2020.
Among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, there were nearly 44 incidents reported in 2020, a 76 percent rise over 2019 and the highest number since 2001.
The commission’s president, Guadalupe Montaño, blamed former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric for the increase in anti-Asian violence.
“It did not help that the former president repeatedly referred to Covid-19 as ‘Chinavirus’ and ‘kung-flu,’” she told The Los Angeles Times.
Incidents such as stabbings, shootings and other attacks against Asian American and Pacific Islander individuals and their businesses have increased since the start of the pandemic.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is Black and Indian, said such incidents had increased six-fold during that time.
The number of hate crimes against the Latinx community rose by 58 percent, the latest report stated.
“The pandemic intensified so many problems that already existed in our society including hate and prejudice,” said county Supervisor Janice Hahn.
“It is a tragedy that in 2020, so many of the same communities that were impacted most by COVID-19 were also victims of this disturbing increase in hate and violence.”
Meanwhile, the FBI’s statistics indicate that overall the number of hate crimes reported to the agency had a rise of 13 percent from 2019 to 2020.
However, the US Justice Department states that over half of all hate-motivated incidents are not reported to law enforcement.
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