California to Allocate $30 Million Toward Combating Hate Crimes

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to reporters at AltaMed Urgent Care in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 25, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

California will give $30.3 million to 12 organizations to “aggressively address hate crimes” by giving mental health services to victims and facilitating “anti-hate crime measures,” Gov. Gavin Newsom announced July 7.

This comes following a report, released by California Attorney Gen. Rob Bonta on June 28, showing hate crimes have increased by 89 percent over the last decade.

“It comes as no surprise that as the flames of hatred and bigotry have been stoked in our society, acts of cowardice and violence have increased at an alarming rate. In California, we are investing millions to prevent this hate from taking hold in our communities. We simply will not tolerate intolerance,” Newsom said in a statement.

Some of the state grants will go toward intervention services for outreach and training on hate incidents and crimes, mental health services for survivors, prevention services, and “community-centered alternative approaches to repair harm from hate incidents and hate crimes.”

The report found that antisemitic hate crimes jumped 32.6 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year.

It was also reported that hate crime events involving a religious bias increased 21.1 percent from 180 in 2020 to 218 in 2021.

Anti-Catholic bias events also rose from 6 in 2020 to 16 in 2021. Other categories that saw an increase in hate crimes include racial, gender, and sexual orientation bias.

“Reported hate crime has reached a level we haven’t seen in California since the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11,” Bonta said in a statement. “As our state’s top law enforcement officer, I will continue to use the full authority of my office to fight back.”

A hate crime is defined as “a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity,” according to the 2021 report.

A hate crime differs from a hate incident, which is an action or behavior motivated by hate but is not considered a punishable crime. Name-calling, insults, displaying hate materials, posting hate material that is not vandalization, and public distribution of hate messages are considered hate incidents.

In California, under the Ralph Act, one’s civil rights may be violated if a victim is subjected to hate violence, or the threat of violence, even if the incident doesn’t escalate to the level of a hate crime or is otherwise protected under the constitution from government prosecution.

A civil violation of such an incident could result in a penalty of up to $25,000.