More than 10,000 people in the United States reported being the victims of hate crimes in 2020, according to the FBI’s “2020 Hate Crime Statistics” report.
Over 60 percent of the victims were targeted because of race, ethnicity or ancestry bias and over 13 percent because of religious bias.
Out of the 7,426 hate crimes classified as crimes against persons, 53.4 percent were for intimidation, 27.6 percent were for simple assault, and 18.1 percent were for aggravated assault.
Over one quarter of the hate crimes classified as property crime were acts of damage and vandalism.
In 2020, nearly 30 percent of hate crimes occurred near residences or homes. Nearly 20 percent occurred on roads or sidewalks. And less than ten percent occurred at parking lots, garages, schools, colleges, parks, playgrounds, synagogues, churches or other religious buildings. The remaining 25 percent of hate crimes took place at multiple other locations.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a Monday statement that preventing and prosecuting hate crimes are two of the Justice Department’s top priorities.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the US for 2020 was the third highest total recorded since it began publishing annual audits in 1979. The figure was more than double the 2015 figure of 942. The audits are compiled from reports by victims, law enforcement and community leaders.