top2.gif - 6.71 K


Badpuppy.com

Violent Hate Crimes Continue to Rise says FBI Report

Compiled by GayToday

Victims of anti-gay hate crimes: Eric Plunkett and Matthew Shepard Washington, D.C. -- The FBI's new crime report released this week shows that the disturbing trend of hate crimes continues unabated despite lower overall crime rates, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

FBI Uniform Crime Reports for 2000 - the latest year for which statistics are available -showed that as overall serious crime decreased slightly nationally, with the Crime Index at its lowest level since 1978, reported hate crimes have continued to rise and increased 3.5 percent from 1999 to 2000.

At the same time, the number of law enforcement agencies participating in reporting hate crimes decreased 3.6 percent from 12,122 to 11,690.

Reported hate crime incidents based on sexual orientation continued to increase and rose 0.9 percent. Reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation have more than tripled since the FBI began collecting statistics in 1991, and comprise 16.3 percent of all hate crimes for 2000 at 1,330.

Hate crimes based on sexual orientation continue to make up the third highest category after race and religion, which make up 53.6 and 18.2 percent, respectively of the total, 8,152.

"Behind each statistic is a life impacted by hate violence," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg.

"As Congress modernizes its terrorism laws, we should bring our 33-year-old federal hate crimes statute up to date by passing the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act. This bill would give 21st century tools to law enforcement by allowing better coordination between federal, state and local law authorities."

It is widely known that hate crimes based on sexual orientation are under-reported, and evidence indicates that FBI data does not paint the whole picture.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), a private organization that tracks bias incidents against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, reported 2,151 incidents in 2000 in only 11 cities/jurisdictions across the country while the FBI collected statistics from 11,690 reporting agencies for the year.

In 2001, a series of violent hate crimes have alarmed lesbian and gay advocates across the nation.

  • For example, on July 29 Willie Houston, 38, was fatally shot in the chest in Nashville, Tenn., after the alleged gunman, Lewis Maynard Davidson III, 25, taunted him with anti-gay epithets.

    Houston had just finished a midnight riverboat cruise with his fiancée, Nedra Jones, and friends when the trouble started. Houston escorted a blind male friend by the arm into a restroom while holding Jones' purse. Inside the restroom, the gunman allegedly hurled anti-gay insults at the friends. He followed them out of the restroom, while continuing his verbal harassment. Davidson then allegedly returned to his car where he retrieved a gun and said, "Now what you got to say?" before firing the weapon at Houston. Police are searching for Davidson and have yet to officially call it a hate crime, saying the investigation is "still very much open." While the victim is reportedly not gay, Tennessee hate crime laws cover violence based on real or perceived sexual orientation.

  • University of Maryland campus police are investigating a violent hate crime that occurred on Oct. 11 during National Coming Out Day. According to police, a 22-year-old woman wearing gay-supportive pins was hanging her bicycle on her car rack when a man approached her from behind and struck her on the back of her head, pushing her head into the rack and knocking her to the ground.

    The white male kicked her several times while she was on the ground as he hurled anti-lesbian epithets and expletives. The woman, who was treated at the University health center, sustained a black eye, a bruise on her nose and scratches on her legs and arms. The woman only saw the man's leg, and police have no suspects.

  • Lorenzo Okaruru, according to detectives, died after being savagely beaten about the head and face on Aug. 26 with a blunt instrument, most likely by a man who picked up someone he thought was a woman and was angered to find out Okarura was a man. Law enforcement officials have said they believe Okaruru was killed based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Washington County Sheriff's Office classified Okaruru's August 26th beating death as a hate crime, the first such killing in the county.
  • Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
    FBI: Anti-Gay Hate Crimes Rank 3rd after Race & Religion

    Jerry Falwell Urges Followers to Oppose Hate Crime Laws

    GayToday's Hate Crime Series

    Related Sites:
    FBI

    Anti-Violence Project
    GayToday does not endorse related sites.

  • Edgar Garzon, 35, died three weeks after he was attacked when leaving a gay bar in Jackson Heights on August 14, according to police. Garzon suffered a skull fracture in the attack and died at Elmhurst General Hospital. Garzon had just left Friends Tavern when two men in a red car exchanged words with him and followed him toward his home. At the intersection the suspects got out of their car, pounded Garzon with either a baseball bat or lead pipe, then fled with his wallet. Police have labeled the beating a bias attack.



  • © 1997-2002 BEI