LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Los Angeles ranks number one for the most hate crimes reported in major U.S. cities last year, a study found.
Data gathered by the Center for Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino show there were 615 hate crimes reported to police in L.A. in 2021, a 71% jump in incidents and the third-highest annual total in any U.S. city since the 1970s, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Black people were the most common target of these crimes, with the center reporting a 91% increase from 2020. With Black residents making up about 8% of the city’s population, there were 148 alleged hate crimes against them — a rate nearly triple the Black population, The Times reported.
Black people were also the most targeted group in other large cities, with the exception of New York City, where Jewish people were attacked the most, according to the center’s study.
“The invective on the internet of hate is being followed by vile acts on the streets,” Brian Levin, the Center’s executive director, said in an interview.
The study found the nation’s other major cities saw steep increases in reported hate crimes, with Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco reporting their highest annual totals in more than a decade, according to Levin.
The increases followed the unsettling spike in racially driven hate crimes reported in 2020 amid the events of the coronavirus pandemic and the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, The Times reported.
In addition to anti-Black incidents in L.A., a breakdown of the city’s climbing numbers showed:
— Members of LGBTQ communities were targeted in 132 alleged crimes.
— Latinos were targeted in 101 alleged crimes.
— 80 antisemitic incidents were reported.
— 41 incidents against Asian people were reported.
Levin added the cases involving Asians in L.A. more than doubled those reported in 2020 and reached levels not seen since the 1990s.
The numbers continued a troubling trend from 2020, a year in which FBI data showed a 73% increase in the number of hate crimes against Asians, according to The Times.
Levin told the publication that the increases recorded by the LAPD could be partly a result of the department’s efforts to improve how it investigates alleged crimes of racial bias.
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