PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia City Council Public Safety Committee approved a bill on Tuesday to toughen up the city’s hate crime law by adding the word “businesses” to the list of potential hate crime targets.
Deputy Police Commissioner Fran Healey said it’s a small but substantial change.
“Hate against a business because of the actual [or] perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, age, ethnicity, race, color, religion or national origin of the business owners is no less offensive,” he said.
Currently, the law only mentions groups or individuals. Healey said the change was “regrettably necessary” because of an uptick in vandalism against businesses.
Jason Holtzman, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, said Jewish-owned businesses have seen a surge in vandalism since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent invasion of Gaza.
He noted one incident at an after-school program in Center City, where the front window was defaced with graffiti that read “free Palestine.” He said such an act is “designed to instill fear.”
“These incidents extend beyond mere acts of vandalism,” he added. “They constitute deliberate acts of intimidation aimed at our community.”
Tim Welbeck, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the same is true for Islamic-owned businesses, such as the Lombard Cafe, owned by Jasmine Taibi Bennoui.
“When she began to voice her support for Palestinians in Gaza, her business was repeatedly attacked,” Welbeck said. “Attacks in this way convey a sense of hostility toward people just because of who they are.”
Both said that’s why the bill is necessary — to add the deterrent of enhanced prosecution for hate crimes against businesses.
The bill now goes to the full council. It could pass as early as next week.