States with the most hate crimes

carl ballou // Shutterstock In 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.” Named for two victims of hate crimes, the act bolstered and expanded the criteria upon which violent crimes could be prosecuted as hate crimes. In addition to crimes motivated by a victim’s race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion, the act further stipulated “actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.” It also provided state and local governments and law enforcement agencies with funding to aid hate crime investigations. The federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act grew out of legislation first proposed in Texas, during George W. Bush’s term as state governor. While Bush had opposed the measure, his successor, Rick Perry, signed it into law in 2001. To date, nearly every state in the U.S. has enacted some form of hate crime legislation, though these laws differ from state to state in terms of what each considers to be worthy of enhanced penalties and what such penalties should be. A nationwide analysis of hate crime laws performed by researchers from Florida Atlantic University pointed out that most state legislation is “vague and inconsistent.” While protection against hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ+ community is growing, several states do not adequately or accurately define who the members of this group are. Most states have some protection for people based on sexual orientation, but only a few have protections based on gender identity. Protections for religious groups are also inconsistent. Although many states have statues protecting houses of worship, most “do not mention mosques and/or synagogues among the protected institutions,” the study found. California holds the most comprehensive law, “as it clearly delineates protected classes and locations, while conceptualizing both.” Researchers suggest California’s statute should serve as an example for other states as they advance towards bolstering or correcting laws that remain unclear or incomplete. Stacker investigated the states in which the most hate crimes take place using the FBI’s 2019 Hate Crime Statistics. States are ranked by hate crimes per capita in 2019. No data was available for Alabama. #50. Arkansas Trong Nguyen // Shutterstock – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 3.0 — Total hate crimes: 9 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 8 — Religion: 0 — Sexual orientation: 1 — Disability: 0 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson approved the state’s first hate crime law in April 2021. Critics have labeled the bill unsubstantial because it does not specify acts against victims based on race, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The Anti-Defamation League vowed to promote the enforcement of stronger local ordinances, such as the one passed in Little Rock in 2020. #49. Maryland eurobanks // Shutterstock – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 3.1 — Total hate crimes: 19 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 7 — Religion: 4 — Sexual orientation: 7 — Disability: 1 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 Blacks are the most targeted victims of hate crimes in Maryland, according to the state’s police. In 2021, the number of bias-motivated crimes against Black citizens increased by 20% from the prior year, exceeding the number of attacks against all other groups combined. #48. Iowa Canva – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 3.2 — Total hate crimes: 10 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 6 — Religion: 0 — Sexual orientation: 4 — Disability: 0 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 Iowa hate crime laws protect citizens against assault, arson, criminal mischief, and trespass committed against a person or their property. It is one of several states that criminalize bias crimes motivated by a victim’s political affiliation. #47. Pennsylvania Sean Pavone // Shutterstock – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 3.2 — Total hate crimes: 41 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 28 — Religion: 9 — Sexual orientation: 4 — Disability: 0 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 In February 2023, a woman was convicted of aggravated assault and conspiracy against a Black trans woman. She was also charged with hate-motivated crimes, which are considered a “summary offense,” less than a minor felony in Pennsylvania. According to the state’s district attorney, the law does not provide members of the LGBTQ+ community protection from bias crimes. #46. Mississippi Canva – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 4.7 — Total hate crimes: 14 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 6 — Religion: 1 — Sexual orientation: 1 — Disability: 6 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 A 24-year-old man was sentenced to 42 months in prison for using racist, derogatory language while he burnt a cross in his front yard in December 2020. His intention, according to his own testimony, was to frighten a Black family, ultimately forcing them to leave the neighborhood. #45. Florida Canva – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 14.1 — Total hate crimes: 19 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 10 — Religion: 2 — Sexual orientation: 7 — Disability: 0 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 The number of reported hate crimes in Maine quadrupled from 2019 to 2020, and while numbers decreased slightly in 2021, attacks specifically against the LGBTQ+ community in the state surpassed the national average. The state’s attorney general, Darcie McElwee, interpreted the data as a “call for action” telling Maine Public Radio that “[unless] we can understand and continue to do work with marginalized communities where we educate them on what is required to prosecute a hate crime, then I can see that they may not understand that we are taking it seriously.” #31. Nevada Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 14.3 — Total hate crimes: 44 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 27 — Religion: 10 — Sexual orientation: 4 — Disability: 1 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 2 Nevada’s Senate Bill 171 intertwines hate crime law and gun control measures. The legislation proposes that people who have committed violent bias crimes should not be allowed to buy or bear a weapon for 10 years. Organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Nevada LGBTQ+ Civil Rights Organization, and Nevada Moms Demand Action have voiced support for the bill. On the other side, Republican legislators and anti-gun control groups are against the motion. At present, Democrats hold the majority in both state chambers, though the state’s governor, Joe Lombardo, is a Republican. #30. Alaska Marc Cappelletti // Shutterstock – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 15.0 — Total hate crimes: 11 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 7 — Religion: 0 — Sexual orientation: 4 — Disability: 0 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 An Alaskan children’s book illustrator awaits trial after he was accused of terroristic threatening. The artist, who was dropped by his publisher a few days after the incident, allegedly started posting notes with anti-transgender messages in several public places around Juneau on the International Day of Transgender Visibility. The state is one of many with lax laws regarding gun ownership for persons convicted of hate crimes. #29. Texas Roschetzky Photography // Shutterstock – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 15.8 — Total hate crimes: 459 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 300 — Religion: 44 — Sexual orientation: 71 — Disability: 19 — Gender: 7 — Gender identity: 18 Texas law differentiates hate crimes from hate incidents. The First Amendment protects expressions of disagreement or dislike toward a person or group under the right of freedom of speech, press, and assembly. Therefore, according to state law, if a person distributes printed material with offensive slander about a group’s ethnic origin, religion, or sexual orientation, the “act is considered a hate incident (rather than a crime) because there is no criminal activity involved.” #28. Rhode Island Ramunas Bruzas // Shutterstock – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 16.0 — Total hate crimes: 17 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 4 — Religion: 5 — Sexual orientation: 8 — Disability: 0 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 Several Jewish defense groups have expressed concern over the growing number of attacks targeting their community in Rhode Island. One particular case prompted several rallies demanding the attention of the attorney general’s office: a woman of Hispanic ancestry left a violent note in a Jewish center at Brown University, which included the phrase: “Hail Hitler. Gas the [expletive] Jews and hope you die.” Yet, she was only charged with disorderly conduct. #27. Tennessee Nolichuckyjake // Shutterstock – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 17.1 — Total hate crimes: 117 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 91 — Religion: 12 — Sexual orientation: 10 — Disability: 1 — Gender: 2 — Gender identity: 1 The latest report about hate crimes in Tennessee showed that while hate crimes have risen steadily over the last several years, most such cases go unsolved. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported that in 2021, 40 hate crimes led to an arrest, while 83 cases were never cleared. Many victims refuse to press charges against the perpetrators or are unwilling to cooperate with prosecutors. Most mate crimes in Tennessee are race-related and most crime victims are white. #26. West Virginia Canva – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 17.3 — Total hate crimes: 31 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 18 — Religion: 6 — Sexual orientation: 3 — Disability: 2 — Gender: 1 — Gender identity: 1 The Department of Justice announced that a new prosecutor was hired by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in West Virginia in January 2023 to “lead civil rights investigations, to include hate crimes, disability and housing rights violations, and infractions of laws that prohibit discrimination based upon race, color, national origin, sex, and religion.” Unfortunately, left off that list of criteria are sexual orientation and gender identity, as the state’s Supreme Court ruled that LGBTQ+ individuals are not protected under the state’s hate crime laws. #25. Minnesota Canva – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 18.4 — Total hate crimes: 104 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 59 — Religion: 20 — Sexual orientation: 17 — Disability: 1 — Gender: 3 — Gender identity: 4 As hate crime numbers have risen in Minnesota, advocacy groups have denounced the difficulty of proving bias in state courts, as the state does not have a hate crime law, though it does cover sentence amplification when crimes are bias-motivated. The activists say minority groups do not trust law enforcement officers and many times refuse to report hate crimes for fear of retaliation. #24. Virginia Canva – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 19.1 — Total hate crimes: 163 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 102 — Religion: 27 — Sexual orientation: 27 — Disability: 3 — Gender: 1 — Gender identity: 3 Virginia leaders created an Anti-Semitism Task Force in February 2023. Attorney General Jason Miyares said the commission was formed in response to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s request on his first day in office. The goal of the task force, said Miyares, is to “monitor, combat, and educate Virginians about hate against Jewish people.” #23. North Carolina Canva – Hate crimes per million people, 2019: 20.1 — Total hate crimes: 211 – Number of hate crimes per bias motivation — Race, ethnicity, or ancestry: 132 — Religion: 42 — Sexual orientation: 30 — Disability: 7 — Gender: 0 — Gender identity: 0 Four state House members, one of them the only Muslim representative in the legislature, recently introduced the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. If passed, the statute would increase penalties, order the creation of a hate crime database, and increase training of law enforcement officers and prosecutors about bias-motivated offenses. #22. Connecticut