Hate Crime Victims Most Often Targeted For Race or Ethnicity

Based on a new reporting system, the Federal Bureau of Investigations has calculated an increase in hate crimes in the U.S. between 2021 and 2022. Considering all reporting law enforcement agencies in 2022, the FBI counted 11,613 hate crime incidents and 15,306 victims, up from 10,857 and 14,170, respectively, in 2021.

Looking at all 2022 victims, a majority of them were targeted due to their race or ethnicity, according to the report, with anti-Black crime being the most common offense comprising 29 percent of hate crimes by bias. Religion was the next biggest factor, with roughly 17 percent being victimized because of it - slightly more than for reasons of sexual orientation (16.8 percent). Here, anti-Jewish and anti-gay hate crimes were the most common. The report concludes that 32 percent of hate crimes were against property, most commonly vandalism or other damage. 66 percent of crimes were directed towards persons. The most frequently recorded type was intimidation, while at 3,179 and 1,603 incidents, simple and aggravated assault were also shockingly common.

In 2020, the FBI debuted its new crime reporting system which is able to capture more nuances - for example listing several and not just one offense per incident, the latter having led to hate crimes being undercounted in the past. However, in 2020, the system change led to many law enforcement agencies not reporting figures at all, creating limited comparability between the 2020 and 2021 gross counts (as well as with the previous years due to the changes in reporting detail).