By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Hate crimes in Los Angeles County reached historic levels last year, officials announced Dec. 11, with significant increases reported in incidents targeting African Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish individuals, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The report also documented a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment and white supremacist ideology.
The Wave to host town hall on hate. See story, page 11.
“African Americans were again overrepresented in reported racial hate crimes, constituting 49% of racial hate crime victims,” said Robin Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, which released the report. “The 320 anti-Black crimes were the highest number ever recorded” in a single year.
The report, presented at the Human Relations Commission’s Vermont Avenue headquarters and streamed online, drew on data from more than 75 law enforcement agencies, schools and community organizations. Officials emphasized efforts like the county’s “LA vs. Hate” campaign to combat hate crimes.
County Supervisor Holly Mitchell shared personal experiences, emphasizing the need for action.
“As a Black woman in L.A. County, this isn’t Alabama or Mississippi, but I experience, without exaggeration, at least one microaggression every single day,” Mitchell said. She urged the audience to see the report as a call to action, not just statistics.
Sheriff Robert Luna underscored the broader consequences of hate crimes.
“They harm the entire community,” he said. “They are an attack on the very fabric of who we are and the shared values that unite us.
Luna encouraged the public to report incidents through resources like the 211 hotline.
Echoing that sentiment at a Dec. 9 event, the Rev. James Thomas, president of the San Fernando Valley NAACP, highlighted the devastating impact hate crimes and systemic racism have on young people, particularly in schools. “We’ve had students who don’t want to go to school anymore and some who’ve become suicidal due to the hostility they face,” Thomas said at a town hall meeting. He called for policies that protect victims without further marginalizing them, urging school administrators to take reports of discrimination seriously.
A teacher who spoke to a reporter under the condition of anonymity described a troubling environment in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve lost 10 to 12 Black teachers at my school alone,” the teacher said, citing practices that push out senior Black educators. They criticized the Black Student Achievement Plan as a “watered-down” effort often led by non-Black administrators.
Toma emphasized holding perpetrators accountable and fostering community safety. He advocated for educational programs to prevent hate crimes and announced forums to develop strategies against hate in collaboration with new District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Among the report’s findings:
• A 125% increase in anti-transgender crimes, the largest climb ever documented. Nearly all the crimes were violent.
• A 90% spike in religious crimes, with anti-Jewish hate crimes rising 91% from 127 to 242. It is the largest number of anti-Jewish crimes ever recorded by the commission.
• Anti-LGBT crimes rose 48% from 173 to 256, the largest number ever documented. Nearly 75% of the crimes targeted gay men.
• Anti-Latino/Latina crimes rose 19% from 121 to 144. That’s the highest number ever recorded by the commission. Racial crimes targeting that group were the most violent — at 87% — of all racial and ethnic groups.
• Anti-Asian crimes, after dipping the year prior, increased 31%. The 80 victims were the second highest number ever recorded.
Other findings include 209 crimes with evidence of white supremacist ideology, the highest number ever recorded in the report.
“We know that there are still far too many incidents that go unreported, which is why the data from this annual report is critical for improving our strategies and shared responsibility to respond to and help prevent all forms of hate,” Mitchell said.
The county’s new district attorney, Nathan Hochman, said he was deeply troubled by the report’s findings.
“Hate has no place in our society, and those who engage in hate crimes should know that they will be held fully accountable for it,” he said.
Through initiatives like “LA vs. Hate,” the county continues to build coalitions and provide resources for victims, focusing on creating an inclusive community.
“By standing together, we can extinguish hate and discrimination in every community and reinforce that hate and discrimination have no place here,” said Helen Chen, president of the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations.
Stephen Oduntan is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers. City News Service contributed to this story.
This resource was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library via California Black Media as part of the Stop the Hate program. The program is supported by partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to https://www.cavshate.org/
