Tag Archives: hate crimes

The Washington Post reports: Hate-crime killings reached a record last year in the United States, due in large part to the mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso that officials say was motivated by anti-immigrant bias, according to figures released Monday by the FBI. There were 51 hate-crime killings in 2019, the highest number since the FBI began tabulating …

ABC News reports: A white California couple has been charged with a hate crime after they were seen on video defacing a Black Lives Matter mural, according to a statement from the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office. Two people, identified by the district attorney as Nicole Anderson, 42, and David Nelson, 53, were seen on July 4 painting over the …

CBS News reports: Proposed state legislation in New York would make falsely reporting certain criminal incidents a hate crime. The bill is gaining support in the wake of a viral video that showed a white woman calling police on a black man who asked her to leash her dog in Central Park. In the video, the woman, Amy Cooper, is …

The Daily Beast reports: The Department of Justice is officially investigating the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man who was fatally shot by two white men while jogging in Georgia, as a possible hate crime, according to the family’s lawyer S. Lee Merritt. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia informed Arbery’s parents that federal authorities are …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Justice Department is weighing whether to file hate crime charges against the white men who killed Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was gunned down while jogging in the small coastal town of Brunswick, Georgia, department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said on Monday. “The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the …

The Des Moines Register reports: An Ames man has been charged with indecent exposure following several incidents within Story County Jail in Nevada, according to court records. Adolfo Martinez, 30, is serving a 17-year sentence for burning a LGBTQ flag in June. According to court documents, an internal investigation looked at jail footage of Martinez and found multiple incidents where …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Actor Jussie Smollett is facing new criminal charges nearly a year after Cook County prosecutors dropped disorderly conduct counts against him for allegedly orchestrating a racist, homophobic attack on himself early last year. Smollett was indicted by a special Cook County grand jury on six counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly making four separate false reports …

Syracuse.com reports: A couple were leaving a Breaking Benjamin rock concert during the state fair in August when one man slung an arm over his boyfriend. That simple act triggered a hate-filled attack by a drunken stranger that included gay slurs, an unprovoked punch to the face of one victim and a shattered window to the car belonging to the …

NPR reports: Federal prosecutors in New York have filed hate crime charges against the man accused of carrying out a stabbing rampage north of New York City over the weekend that wounded five people as they celebrated Hanukkah. According to the FBI, the suspect, Grafton E. Thomas, 37, appears to have been driven by anti-Semitism, citing journals written by Thomas …

Via press release from hate group leader Mat Staver: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that burning the American flag is First Amendment protected speech. But if you burn an LGBT flag, it’s another story. An Iowa court just sentenced a man to 16 years in prison after he torched an LGBT flag. That’s a hate crime in Iowa, …

The Des Moines Register reports: The Clive police chief said hate crime charges are being considered after a woman admitted she hit a 14-year-old girl with her car because the girl is Hispanic. Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, is charged with attempted murder for allegedly running down a 14-year-old on Dec. 9 as the girl walked to Indian Hills Junior …

The Des Moines Register reports: An Ames man was sentenced Wednesday to about 16 years in prison after he set fire to a church LGBTQ flag in June. Adolfo Martinez, 30, of Ames, last month was found guilty of a hate crime — a class “D” felony — third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire. Police said he stole a …

Austin’s CBS News affiliate reports: Two men from Dallas pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes on Thursday for their connection to a scheme to target gay men for violent crimes. Daryl Henry, 24, and Pablo Deleon, 19, both used the dating app Grindr to lure gay men to a vacant apartment and other areas in and around Dallas for robbery, …

The New York Daily News reports: Three teenage boys pleaded guilty Thursday in connection to a highly publicized attack on a lesbian couple inside a London bus six months ago, according to the city’s Metropolitan Police, which have now released surveillance video of the horrific assault. One of the victims, Melania Geymonat, wrote in a viral Facebook post at the …

The Ames Tribune reports: The Ames man accused of tearing down a pride banner from Ames United Church of Christ and setting it on fire was found guilty by a jury Wednesday morning. Adolfo Martinez, 30, was found guilty of a hate crime, third-degree harassment, reckless use of fire and habitual offender, Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said. The habitual …

Via press release from the Justice Department: William Patrick Syring, 61, of Arlington, Virginia, was today sentenced to 60 months in prison for threatening employees of the Arab American Institute (AAI) because of their race and national origin, threatening AAI employees because of their efforts to encourage Arab Americans to participate in political and civic life in the United States, …

The Independent reports: Four teenage boys have been charged with an aggravated hate crime over a homophobic attack against two women on a London night bus, the Metropolitan Police has said. Melania Geymonat, 28, and her girlfriend Chris were hospitalised with facial injuries and left covered with blood after the assault on 30 May. The couple had been travelling home …

NBC News St. Louis reports: A man has been charged with a hate crime and threatening to kill LGBTQ residents in Soulard. On May 24, police received several 911 calls about property damage in the 1300 block of Sidney Street. While investigating what happened, police obtained surveillance video that showed a man committing the crimes. That man was later identified …

Newsweek reports: A woman has spoken out about a terrifying ordeal in which she and her girlfriend were attacked by a gang of men on a London bus after they refused to kiss for their entertainment. Uruguay national Melania Geymonat, 28, posted a photo showing the aftermath of the assault in which she and her American girlfriend Chris are covered …

CBS News Dallas reports: A federal grand jury charged a pair of Dallas men with conspiracy to commit hate crimes, kidnapping and carjacking. Daniel Jenkins, 20, and Daryl Henry, 22, were also charged with hate crimes and kidnapping. Jenkins was also charged with carjacking and brandishing a firearm during crimes of violence. “Criminals are using apps like Grindr to single …