(NAME-MCE) FBI: Hate crimes up by 8 percent

[Bill Howe]

FBI: Hate crimes up by 8 percent Annual count doesn't include all police
agencies — among them Jena, La.
 The Associated Press
updated 10:32 a.m. ET, Mon., Nov. 19, 2007

WASHINGTON - Hate crime incidents in the United States rose last year by
nearly 8 percent, the FBI reported Monday, as racial prejudice continued to
account for more than half the reported instances.

Police across the nation reported 7,722 criminal incidents in 2006 targeting
victims or property as a result of bias against a particular race, religion,
sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin or physical or mental
disability. That was up 7.8 percent from the 7,163 incidents reported in
2005.

Although the noose incidents and beatings among students at Jena, La., high
school occurred in the last half of 2006, they were not included in the
report. Only 12,600 of the nation's more than 17,000 local, county, state
and federal police agencies participated in the hate crime reporting program
in 2006 and neither Jena nor LaSalle Parish, in which the town is located,
were among the agencies reporting.

Nevertheless, the Jena incidents, and a rash of subsequent noose incidents
around the country, have spawned civil rights protests in Louisiana and last
Friday at Justice Department headquarters here. The department said it
investigated the incident but decided not to prosecute because the federal
government does not typically bring hate crime charges against juveniles.

The Jena case began in August 2006 after a black student sat under a tree
known as a gathering spot for white students. Three white students later
hung nooses from the tree. They were suspended by the school but not
prosecuted. Six black teenagers, however, were charged by LaSalle Parish
prosecutor Reed Walters with attempted second-degree murder of a white
student who was beaten unconscious in December 2006. The charges have since
been reduced to aggravated second-degree assault, but civil rights
protesters have complained that no charges were filed against the white
students who hung the nooses.

"The FBI report confirms what we have been saying for many months about the
severe increase in hate crimes," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who organized
Friday's march. "What is not reported, however, is the lack of prosecution
and serious investigation by the Justice Department to counter this increase
in hate crimes." Sharpton called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to
meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights leaders
to discuss this matter.

*Noose incidents investigated*
The Justice Department says it is actively investigating a number of noose
incidents at schools, work places and neighborhoods around the country. It
says "a noose is a powerful symbol of hate and racially motivated violence"
recalling the days of lynchings of blacks and that it can constitute a
federal civil rights offense under some circumstances.

The FBI report does not break out the number of noose incidents but the two
most frequent hate crimes in 2006 were property damage or vandalism, at
2,911 offenses, and intimidation, at 2,046 offenses. There were 860
aggravated assaults and 1,447 simple assaults. There were three murders, 6
rapes and 41 arsons. Other offenses included robbery, burglary, larceny, and
motor vehicle theft.

The 7,722 criminal hate crime incidents involved 9,080 specific criminal
offenses, include 5,449 against individuals, 3,593 against property and 38
classified as against society at large. An incident can involve attacks on
both people and property.

As has been the case since the FBI began collecting hate crime data in 1991,
the most frequent motivation was racial bias, accounting for 51.8 percent of
the incidents in 2006. That was down slightly from the 54.7 percent in 2005.

Also in 2006, religious bias was blamed for 18.9 percent of the incidents;
sexual orientation bias for 15.5 percent, and ethnic or national origin for
12.7 percent.

*58 percent of offenders were white*
Of the 7,330 offenders identified by police, 58.6 percent were white,
20.6percent were black,
12.9 percent were of unknown racial background and other races accounted for
the remainder.

The greatest percentage of incidents, 31 percent, occurred near residences
or homes. Another 18 percent occurred on highways or streets, 12.2 percent
at colleges or schools, 6.1 percent in parking lots or garages, 3.9 percent
at churches, synagogues or temples. The remainder occurred at other specific
locations, multiple locations or unknown locations.

Lack of full participation by the more than 17,000 police agencies around
the nation somewhat undermines year-to-year comparisons.

For instance, in 2004, 12,711 agencies reported 7,649 incidents. In 2005,
only 12,417 agencies reported and incidents dropped 6 percent to 7,163. But
in 2006, agencies reporting rose to 12,620 and incidents climbed 7.8 percent
to 7,722.

 URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21882843/

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Bill Howe
http://www.billhowe.org
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