SLO County had state’s highest rate of anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020, California AG says
A report released by the California Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday says that San Luis Obispo recorded the highest per capita rate of anti-Asian hate crimes of any California county in 2020.
The report, “Anti-Asian Hate Crime Events During the COVID-19 Pandemic” says that two San Luis Obispo County residents of Asian descent were “attacked” in hate crimes 2020.
The report notes that it compares the number of hate-related crimes to the relevant county’s resident Asian population, which is “the share of the population most vulnerable to anti-Asian hate crime events.”
With San Luis Obispo County’s relatively small population of about 8,900 Asian residents, the two hate-related attacks result in a per capita rate of 2.25 incidents per 10,000 Asian residents, by far the highest rate of any California county.
Santa Cruz County had the second highest victimization rate, with 0.88 crimes per 10,000 Asian residents, or one hate crime among its roughly 11,400 Asian residents.
Alameda County ranked the lowest, with two victims out of a population of 441,300 residents, or a rate of 0.05.
Los Angeles County recorded the most total anti-Asian hate crimes, with 32.
Anti-Asian hate crimes were reported last year in 18 counties.
The report does not go into detail about the two local hate crimes, nor does it list where they occurred or whether they resulted in arrests.
The report focused solely on reported hate crimes defined as “criminal acts committed, in whole or in part, because of a victim’s actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with someone with one or more of those actual or perceived characteristics.”
Hate incidents — actions or behavior motivated by hate such as name-calling or distribution of materials with hate messages in public places — were not counted in the report.
Anti-Asian hate crimes rose 107% between 2019 and 2020
Attorney General Rob Bonta described the year to The Sacramento Bee as an “epidemic of hate” against the Asian American Pacific Islander community as reports of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans increased 107% from 2019 to 2020, with 101 people victimized in the 18 counties.
Simple assault and intimidation were among the most common hate crimes committed, and violent crimes accounted for 81% of all hate crime events.
The report attributes the dubious increase to the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated anti-Asian rhetoric blaming those communities for the spread of COVID-19 in the United States.
The wave of hate crimes peaked in March and April 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.
Overall hate crimes also increased 31% from 2019 to 2020, with a total of 1,330 hate crimes reported in the past year. Police agencies referred 430 of those cases for prosecution, or about 32% of hate crime events.
Anti-Black bias events were the most prevalent hate crimes, increasing 87% from 243 in 2019 to 456 in 2020. Anti-white bias events also increased from 39 in 2019 to 82 in 2020.
In a separate annual report, “Hate Crime in California 2020,” the California Department of Justice says San Luis Obispo recorded 12 hate crime events — or occurrences involving a hate crime — and 14 hate crime offenses. There may be more than one offense within a single event.
The agency recorded 14 victims of hate crimes in the county in 2020 and nine suspects.
The report says 10 of those events occurred in the city of San Luis Obispo, one occurred in Grover Beach, and another happened in an unincorporated part of the county.
Overall, the total number of hate crimes reported in the county slightly decreased from 2019.
That year, San Luis Obispo County recorded 20 hate crime offenses in 13 separate events, with 20 victims and 12 suspects.
Again, 10 of those events occurred in San Luis Obispo, one occurred in Paso Robles, and one happened in unincorporated San Luis Obispo County.
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 1:31 PM.
