Los Angeles County saw the highest number of hate crimes in 2023 since the county began tracking hate crime data in 1980 with a spike in discrimination and violence against transgender and Jewish people, according to a new report.
The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations said in its annual report that there were 1,350 hate crimes reported to law enforcement agencies across the county, a 45% increase from 2022.
“Hate crimes documented in the year 2023 grew to a peak and set multiple records for highest counts of certain targeted groups – African Americans, Asians, Jewish people, Latino/as, LGBT* individuals and transgender people – and included highest counts for anti-immigrant slurs, Middle East conflict related crimes, and crimes with evidence of White supremacist ideology.
The transgender community appears to have experienced most hate crimes with 99 reports, an 125% surge from the year before.
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Most of the anti-transgender crimes were violent, including assaults, intimidation and robbery, according to the report.
Some 75% of the anti-transgender hate crimes targeted transgender women with the overwhelming majority of the suspects being male.
2023 also had a spike in religious hate crimes, particularly against Jewish people. Among 242 religious hate crimes surge over 90%, the highest number reached in LA County history.
As half of the religious hate crimes were violent, the most common form of hate was done through vandalism, the report said.
As most victims were targeted in public places, the city of Los Angeles recorded the highest number of religious hate crimes, following by Beverly Hills and Burbank.
Among racial hate crimes, Black Americans made up the biggest group of victims with 320 reports. That figure makes up nearly half of the racial hate crimes reported in Los Angeles County.
Asians were another group that was frequently victimized by hate crimes. In 2023, there were 80 anti-Asian crimes, an increase of 31%.
There were 123 hate crimes targeting immigrants also increased with victims being targeted with anti-immigration slurs, with over 70% of them targeting Latinos and 18% against Asians.
