LA County Announces New Report
Revealing More Complete Picture
of Hate Activity in Los Angeles
For the first time, LA County’s new “Hate Incident Report” finds that 821 acts of hate – in addition to 1,350 hate crimes previously reported - occurred in LA County, including shocking bias-motivated hostilities that include verbal attacks and harassment. This report reveals an alarming growth in incidents at schools, colleges and universities, as well as incidents evidencing white supremacist ideology, and related to the Middle East violence.
LOS ANGELES, CA—Today, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) released its first ever annual Hate Incident Report, with some alarming findings. Reported hate incidents in Los Angeles County grew 35% from 609 in 2022, to 821 in 2023. Reported hate incidents taking place at schools, colleges, and universities rose 234% (from 59 to 197). Incidents with White supremacist ideology increased 124% (from 33 to 74). Middle East conflict-related incidents grew from 2 to 45, an astounding increase of 2,150%.
This report is based on the reporting of hate incidents documented for 2022 and 2023 and includes actual hate incidents reported in LA County. The hate information for this report, as distinct from hate crime data, is collected and analyzed with the same methodology as LACCHR’s annual hate crime report, drawing data from law enforcement agencies, our LAvsHate countywide anti-hate program, educational institutions, and community-based organizations. Included in the document are actual hate incidents reported in LA County, such as the following: A Black woman and her fiancé hired a moving company. She was not happy with the service and price and called the company while the white male supervisor of the crew was present. He began yelling anti-female and anti-Black epithets and profanities at her.”
Although some of the Hate Incident Report findings align with those in the 2023 Hate Crime Report, published in December 2024, this new report provides a more comprehensive picture of hate activity in LA County. For example, the hundreds of hate incidents analyzed in this report show a significant growth of hate activity at schools, colleges, and universities, as well as hate acts related to the conflict in the Middle East and White supremacist ideology.
“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’,“ stated Robin Toma, LACCHR Executive Director. “Understanding hate incident data along with hate crime data is a crucial new dimension for effective prevention and intervention policies and action.”
The report’s principal author, Dr. Monica Lomeli, who leads LACCHR’s Hate Documentation and Data Analytics Team, noted “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.” Commission President Helen Chin added that “Tracking and documenting hate incidents are important because they can provide the groundwork for victims to obtain services or remedies for violations of their rights."
“Hate crimes are violations of state and federal laws, and both hate crimes and hate incidents are serious breaches of international human rights standards,” pointed out Robert Sowell, LACCHR Assistant Executive Director. “A central goal of the Hate Crime Report and the Hate Incident Report is to raise awareness about these human rights violations.”
The report’s significant findings also include the following:
- African Americans were targeted for 52% of all racial/ethnic/national origin -motivated hate incidents (52%), and anti-Black incidents increased 12% from 211 to 237.
- Incidents targeting Jewish persons spiked 153% from 66 to 167. Ninety percent of religious motivated hate incidents targeted the Jewish community.
- Sexual orientation incidents increased 24% from 119 to 148. Incidents targeting gay males, lesbians, and LGBT (non-specified)* all grew.
- Latino/as were the second largest racially targeted group, reporting 69 hate incidents (15%), and 60% of these incidents included anti-immigrant slurs.
- Asian Americans comprised 15% of all reported racial incidents, with a decrease from 76 to 66. Thirty-three percent of these incidents were anti-Chinese.
- Gender-motivated incidents increased by 53% from 36 to 55. Forty of these incidents were anti-transgender and 13 were anti-female.
- Disability-motivated incidents grew from 3 to 11.
Using this 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 in neighborhoods in each of the five Supervisorial districts with the highest rates of reported hate and areas where immigrant, African American, and transgender residents have been disproportionately affected. This grassroots campaign is driven by our hate crime and hate incident data and will help combat the alarming rise in hate by distributing community signage—such as yard signs, posters, and murals—to foster a shared neighborhood identity rooted in inclusion and respect for diversity.
Understanding some key factors about hate incidents can help identify and better comprehend them. The following are some key identifiers to keep top of mind.
- Hate incidents are noncriminal acts motivated by prejudice or bias against a person or group’s actual or perceived identity(ies). These incidents can include non-criminal verbal abuse, harassment, and display of offensive material.
- Perpetrators are motivated by bias based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or gender, including gender identity.
- In the United States, hate speech is not necessarily a crime. However, it is a criminal offense when the perpetrator threatens violence with spoken or written words against a specific person or group.
Since 1980, the LA County Commission on Human Relations has utilized hate crime data to document, prevent, and respond to hate.
For more information on the most recent Hate Incident Report, click here.
For more information on the LA vs Hate initiative, including shareable graphics ready-made for social media, please click here.
*LGBT (non-specified) refers to cases in which an LGBT individual, business, or organization was targeted but there were no slurs made against a specific sexual orientation (e.g. gay, lesbian).
About the LA County Commission on Human Relations
The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations is dedicated to securing human rights to strengthen healthy relations throughout our richly diverse, multicultural county, encompassing all five Supervisorial Districts. The Commission works to develop programs that proactively address racism, homophobia, religious prejudice, linguistic bias, anti-immigrant sentiment, and other divisive attitudes that can lead to intercultural tension, hate crimes, and related violence.
For more information about LA County’s Commission on Human Relations, click here.
About LA vs Hate
LA vs Hate is a community-centered system designed to support all residents of Los Angeles County. Led by the Human Relations Commission, LA vs Hate partners with community partners from all five County districts, representing a diverse coalition of voices committed to ending hate. The system aims to address the normalization of hate and inspire people to stand up to it, build understanding about what constitutes a hate act and how to report it, as well as support individuals and communities as they heal from the trauma of hate and work to end systemic discrimination. By tracking and reporting hate, we can ensure that resources are allocated appropriately, that those targeted by hate receive the support they need, and that together, we can build respectful and resilient communities in solidarity with one another.
For more information about LA vs Hate, click here.
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