Hate Crimes Reported on the Rise in O.C.

By SEEMA MEHTA

March 26, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

After a big drop two years ago, the number of hate crimes in Orange County rose nearly 17% last year, approaching levels recorded through most of the decade, the county Human Relations Commission reported Thursday.

Authorities were baffled about the reason for the big increase, especially since hate crimes in Los Angeles County are expected to show a decrease when figures are released next month.

In its annual report, the commission stated that 169 hate crimes were perpetrated last year, compared with 145 the previous year.

“Thank goodness it’s not up to the level of two years ago, where it hovered for many years,” said Rusty Kennedy, the commission’s executive director. There were 183 hate crimes reported in 1996. The average for the preceding four years was 181.

Hate crimes are criminal acts or attempts motivated by a victim’s race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender or disability. Some reports, such as distribution of hate literature, are classified as “incidents” because they are considered constitutionally protected speech.

While crimes against blacks and Jews remained at 35 and 34 reports, respectively, the biggest increase came in criminal acts against Latinos, who were victims in 21 cases last year, compared with 14 the previous year.

“That may be connected with some of the immigrant bashing and the hostility in the public debate over some of the initiatives relating to minorities,” Kennedy said. He theorized that Latinos became scapegoats in immigration and bilingual-education debates.

Commissioner Bill Wood said such events could cause a spike in the number of hate crimes. Asians, for instance, were targeted 17 times in 1998, compared to 41 times in 1992 when, he said, America was in the throes of a deep recession, Asian economies were faring well and Japanese were said to be buying up American properties.

The commission reported that gays and lesbians were targeted 19 times last year and that multiple victims were subjects of 30 incidents, mostly hate literature or vandalism that vilified more than one group.

The commission’s report comes at a time when the national conscience has been sensitized to several horrific hate crimes. One was the October torture-murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student. The other was the killing of James Byrd Jr., an African American whom racists tied to a pickup truck last June and dragged to death in a small Texas town.

“The core intent is to terrorize a community,” Kennedy said about such highly publicized crimes.

Overall, hate crimes are decreasing nationally, but increasing against certain groups, like newly arrived immigrants, said Fred Persily, director of the California Assn. of Human Relations Organizations.

A national Anti-Defamation League study released Wednesday said anti-Semitic crimes increased slightly last year.

Locally, most perpetrators are never identified, but Orange County authorities pressed charges in 14 hate crimes last year, though verdicts or pleas may not have covered the hate crime counts.

Some high-profile incidents:

* In Huntington Beach, three teens burned a cross on a Jewish family’s lawn in May. Daniel Patrick Carr, 18, was sentenced in February to two years in prison for desecrating a religious symbol. Two minors pleaded guilty and were ordered confined at the California Youth Authority.

* In Cypress, a Latino man who was working on his car was hit over the head with a beer bottle in August and two companions were stabbed. Seven alleged gang members with swastika tattoos were arrested.

* In Stanton, a gay man was beaten with sticks by two men in January 1998.

Kennedy said the number of prosecutions is low because they take time to develop and because proving hate as a motive is difficult.

“It makes for a more complicated case if you have to show racial motivation,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Gennaco in Los Angeles. “You have to get into the head of the perpetrator.”

Ron Wakabayashi, executive director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, said he was surprised to learn about Orange County’s increase.

Wakabayashi said racial crimes are decreasing in Los Angeles County, though religious and sexual orientation incidents remained constant.

Gennaco said it’s difficult to determine if Orange County’s increase is caused by more crimes or better reporting. Some suspect it is both.

But many towns--and schools, in particular--do not identify hate crimes for fear of drawing negative publicity, said Joyce Greenspan, director of the Orange County-Long Beach Anti-Defamation League.

She said the number of white supremacist groups has grown over the decade. The league follows 12 to 15 groups in Orange County, she said. The commission report noted that most perpetrators are young white males.

“White supremacists are bolder, more visible and feeling more comfortable within the population to espouse their beliefs,” she said.

The Internet has fueled their increasing visibility, giving people “predisposed to being racist” information and encouragement, she said.

Eli Reyna, a human-relations specialist for the commission, said white supremacist groups have become more sophisticated at recruiting members. A flier distributed in Laguna Beach on Saturday, for example, offered grocery delivery services for elderly or disabled “white people,” he said.

“They’re a lot more sophisticated, not as harsh,” he said. “People might not react immediately. It may look benign.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Hate Crimes Increase

Hate crimes in Orange County increased 17% in 1998 with vandalism being the most common kind of act. Blacks and Jews were the most heavily targeted groups of victims. Hate crimes are criminal acts motivated by the victim’s race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability.

Hate Crime Trend

1991: 126

1992: 188

1993: 180

1994: 182

1995: 175

1996: 183

1997: 145

1998: 169

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1998 Crimes by Type

Vandalism: 33%