Hate crimes soar in Los Angeles County

Recorded hate crimes in Los Angeles County increased by 23% throughout 2021. Religiously motivated crimes also spiked, with Jews as the main target. Seventy-four percent of attacks were against members of this community. According to authorities, this is the highest level of such incidents in the last two decades.

The report by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, a government agency under the Board of Supervisors, reflects that hate crimes reported during the past year grew from 641 to 786. In addition, religiously motivated crimes increased from 86 to 111 (29% more than the previous year). Seventy-four percent of these incidents targeted the Jewish community.

"Blatant antisemitism"

Jews were also the most targeted group in white supremacist-motivated crimes, with 45% of the cases. When it comes to "crimes related to terrorism or conflict in the Middle East," every incident recorded in 2021 targeted members of this community.

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, spoke to the Los Angeles Times. He claimed that the number of hate crimes has continued its upward trend throughout 2022 (although not reflected in the report) and is feared to continue in the coming year. Levin acknowledged being particularly concerned about crimes against the Jewish community, because "It's not just the kind of antisemitic attack now that occurs where someone wants to be anonymous in a dark alley, this is an in-your-face brazen type of antisemitism."

Kanye West's dangerous statements

In this regard, the director condemned the damage being done by well-known people, such as the artist formerly known as Kanye West, spreading clearly anti-Semitic comments on social media and in interviews. For example, a racist group placed a giant banner in support of the rapper's comments on a California freeway.

County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who condemned the fact that the country is in a "crisis of hate," and District Attorney George Gascón, who acknowledged that he was "deeply disturbed" by the "clearly troubling" figures, also expressed their discomfort with these people. Robin Toma, executive director of the Human Relations Commission, stated that part of the increase may be because it is easier than ever to report these types of crimes.

"Deep division of the country"

However, Toma stressed that this is not just an isolated problem in Los Angeles, but one that affects the entire country, and he pointed out specific milestones. "The year 2021 began with a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, led in part by white nationalist groups. The shocking revolt was evidence of not only growing political polarization, but a country deeply divided along lines of race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. Against this backdrop, hate crimes across the nation, including L.A. County, skyrocketed in 2021."

Speaking to the Algemeiner, Adam Schiff, a Democrat, expressed his "particular" concern that "Jewish Angelenos were victims of an overwhelming number of the religiously-motivated hate crimes, especially as antisemitic vitriol has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks. As this report shows, there is no room for silence or ambivalence on these matters – we must all condemn bigotry and lies wherever we see them because the consequences of inaction are too great to bear."

Attacks on Asians on the rise since the pandemic

As an example of antisemitic attacks, the report stops at this one: "Five Jewish men were dining in an open-air restaurant. They observed a caravan of vehicles with Palestinian flags. Suddenly, three men jumped out of a jeep and ran toward the victims. They shouted, 'Do you support Palestine?' and 'Are you Jewish?' They punched and kicked the five victims and threw glass bottles at them."

Race and sexual orientation offenses also increased. Race-related crimes were the most frequent at 473 reported cases (67 more than in 2020). Once again, the black population was the main victim, with almost half of the assaults. The increase in attacks on Asians (77 cases) are particularly noteworthy. These types of attacks have been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic.