Hate incidents in Los Angeles County are on the rise, report says

On Friday, April 4, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) released its first-ever annual Hate Incident Report, revealing that hate incidents in Los Angeles County grew 35% in 2023. 

This is the first report of its kind, different from the organization’s Hate Crime Report, which they release annually. This new report is based explicitly on the reporting of hate incidents, described as “noncriminal acts motivated by prejudice or bias against a person or group’s actual or perceived identities.” 

Hate incidents, in comparison to hate crimes, can include non-criminal verbal abuse, harassment and the display of offensive materials. 

The report gives the example that in the United States, hate speech is not necessarily a crime. It can become a criminal offense when the perpetrator threatens violence with spoken or written words against a specific person or group. “Hate speech may also be criminal if it is used against the same person or group of persons in a repeated pattern, which may constitute criminal harassment or stalking,” the report says. 

According to the LACCHR, this is an example of how tracking and documenting hate incidents can provide the basis for a criminal case.

“Hate incidents can be just as traumatic for victims as hate crimes and can perpetuate systemic inequality. So all of us must report them, not accept them as ‘normal,’ Robin Toma, LACCHR executive director, said. “Understanding hate incident data along with hate crime data is a crucial new dimension for effective prevention and intervention policies and action.” 

The LACCHR  described the findings as “alarming” after the report showed that hate incidents in the county grew from 609 incidents in 2022 to 821 in 2023. In addition, reported hate incidents taking place at schools, colleges and universities rose 234% (from 59 to 197) and incidents with white supremacist ideology increased 124% (from 33 to 74). 

Hate incidents against Latinos

Latinos were one of the racial groups most disproportionately affected by hate incidents. Racially-motivated hate incidents were the most common type of incident in 2022 and 2023. In 2023 they were 50% of the total hate incidents reported. In 2023, anti-Latino incidents increased by 15% from 60 to 69. 

Latinos comprised 15% of total racial hate incidents in both 2022 and 2023, with Mexicans being the most targeted group among Latinos. In 2023 Mexicans were targeted 31 times, which was 45% of all Latino hate incidents. 

One of the most alarming findings in the report was the anti-immigrant incidents, which, despite decreasing in the last year, are still prevalent. In 2023, 60% of anti-Latino incidents contained anti-immigrant slurs in 2023 compared to 72% the previous year. 

Hate incidents against the LGBTQ community

Some of the growing hate incidents in 2023 were those motivated by sexual orientation, which rose from 119 in 2022 to 148, an increase of 24%. Sexual orientation hate incidents comprised 17% of total hate incidents in 2023, down from 19%. The great majority of sexual orientation incidents (73%) targeted gay men. 

Anti-lesbian incidents comprised 13% of the victims with a total of 19 incidents. In addition, there were 16 incidents classified as “LGBT (non-specified)" in which LGBT individuals, businesses or organizations were targeted, but there were no slurs made against a specific sexual orientation (e.g. gay, lesbian) or it was unclear exactly how the suspect perceived the victim.

The report also stated that there were 55 reported hate incidents in 2023 motivated by the victim’s perceived gender or gender identity, 19 more than the previous year. Forty of these incidents were anti-transgender and 13 were anti-female. Anti-transgender incidents rose dramatically from 27 victims in 2022 to 40 in 2023, constituting a 48% rise. 

Transgender victims comprised 71% of all gender-motivated hate incidents.

The report’s principal author, Dr. Monica Lomeli, who leads LACCHR’s hate documentation and data analytics team, said hate incidents can vary and look different. “Hate incidents can include situations where someone is being threatened with being reported to ICE, the distribution of white supremacist literature in front of a supermarket and a gender non-conforming individual being told demeaning comments while on public transportation based on a perceived gender identity,” Lomeli said. 

The hate report and data that helped create this report were collected and analyzed with the same methodology as LACCHR’s annual hate crime report, drawing data from law enforcement agencies such as the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, Long Beach Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department among others; community-based organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), the Los Angeles LGBT Center and The TransLatin@ Coalition; and school districts like LAUSD. 

In response to these alarming findings of the Hate Incident Report’s new data on hate incidents, as well as the 2023 Hate Crime Report, the countywide anti-hate program “LA vs Hate” will launch a “Signs of Solidarity” campaign this spring throughout the county. 

According to L.A. vs. Hate, the campaign will target the neighborhoods with the highest rates of reported hate and areas where immigrant, African American and transgender residents have been disproportionately affected. The organization will use yard signs, posters and murals to foster a shared neighborhood identity rooted in inclusion and respect for diversity and inclusion. 

For more information on the most recent Hate Incident Report, click here.