Hate crimes in Los Angeles County remain near record-levels in 2024, despite a slight decrease in many types of violent incidents, according to a report released Thursday.
Findings from the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, revealed at a news conference in Koreatown, said there were 1,355 hate crime victims in 2024, a 1% drop from the previous year.
“To give you a sense of magnitude, that total represents an average of nearly four violent crimes per day,” said Robin Toma, the commission’s executive director.
Toma said hate crimes continuing at historic rates can be attributed in part to reporting, and partnerships between law enforcement agencies, and community organizations like 211LA.
Anti-Black hate crimes accounted for the majority of reported incidents at 51%, and the number of victims increased from 325 in 2023 to 345 last year. The data maintain a decades-long pattern of black people being victims of racially motivated incidents. The report points to another incident in December last year, when a black woman driving her car in Long Beach said that a white abuser started yelling to kill her and called for about 8 weapons. “
Professor Emeritus Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said “socially motivated groups” are responsible for violent hate crimes. Simple assaults, assaults and robberies all rose to various premises, including vandalism – accounting for 88% of all reported crimes, according to the Commission’s report.
Hate crimes against Middle Eastern society increased sevenfold, the report found, the largest increase of any category of racism. Cases involving language related to the conflict in the Middle East accounted for 6% of all total cases. About half of these occur in school settings, the report added.
The number of hate crimes where the victims were identified as Latino also increased from 2023 to 2024, with 25 more incidents reported, for a total of 71.
Levin said the trend may be attributed to the inflammatory rhetoric toward immigrant communities from elected officials in Washington.
The ScapeGoting of Antronts and transgender people enable negative stereotypes to flourish, and they have a victimized effect,” he said.
In October of last year, according to another incident highlighted in the Commission’s report, a certified Latina assistant was beaten and injured by a black patient after he told him, “I hate Central America.”
Toma said that data on immigrant or Latino communities may have been suppressed because some are afraid to report incidents for fear of the consequences of strengthening countries.
Sheriff Robert Luna, who was also speaking at a news conference on Thursday, said that any reporting group will not be subject to immigration status scrutiny by his agency.
“I wear this uniform, and everyone looks at me differently because I wear this uniform,” said Luna. “But on the weekend, when I go to the home depot, not in uniform, I look at myself in my reality, so I have a sensitivity to what we are in some challenging times.”
Almost all cases involving transgender individuals resulted in violence, with a 3% increase in overall reported incidents, the Commission’s report said. The cases of unemployed people also rose, according to the report, but there was a slight decrease in the incidents against the full LGBTQ +.
Bambi Salcedo, President of the Trans Latin @ Coalition, said the report shows some transgender “truths” both in La County and nationally.
“This year alone, at least 52 people have sent people [nationally] they were killed, “said Salcedo.” That means that, every week of the year, at least one of us is killed. “
Incidents involving Asian victims will drop from 70 in 2023 to 52 in 2024, the report said. Gang-related crimes decreased after a historic high in 2023.
Religiously-based hate crimes targeting Jewish victims, which once accounted for 80% of the total, fell from 244 to 202 reported incidents, according to County data. Anti-Muslim crimes – which accounted for the second largest number of incidents – increased from 19 to 21 cases. Science was identified as a victim in 16 incidents last year, compared to 10 in 2023.
“These findings should be alarming, indicating the persistence of high levels of hatred in our concern that it will continue to grow in the political climate,” said Toma.
