Anti-Black, gay, Asian bias fuel California hate crime surge

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The California attorney general’s office says hate crimes in 2021 shot up 33% to nearly 1,800 reported incidents. That is the sixth highest tally on record and the highest since after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Crimes showing bias against Black people were the most prevalent at more than500 incidents. Hate crimes motivated by bias against a person’s sexual orientation increase nearly 50% to a little over 300 incidents. Crimes against Asian Americans surged 178%. Officials concede that reported hate crime statistics may be far lower than actual numbers, but they also say they’ve taken steps to encourage reporting by victims.  The 1,763 hate crimes reported in 2021 in California is the highest since 2001, when 2,261 hate crimes were reported.