An uptick of hate crimes in Colorado in 2020
COLORADO (KRDO) -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation released the 2020 Hate Crime Statistics, which showed an alarming trend in Colorado.
According to the FBI, 2020 had the highest number of hate crimes ever reported in the state.
Hate crimes are described as "motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against a race, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and were committed against people, property, or society."
According to the FBI Crime Data Explorer, there were 283 hate crimes reported in 2020. That's a 22% increase compared to 2019, and the highest number of reports since 1992.
Nationally, there were 7,554 single-bias incidents involving 10,528 victims in 2020. Of the 6,431 known offenders, 55.2% were white and 20.2% were Black or African American.
The #FBI just released Hate Crime Statistics, 2020, a compilation of data about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. According to the data, there were 7,554 single-bias incidents and 205 multiple-bias incidents reported in 2020. https://t.co/1BCzFtgfUO pic.twitter.com/Jas6nWx0MN
— FBI (@FBI) August 30, 2021
In Colorado, the top three hate crime reports involved:
- Bias towards race/ethnicity/ancestry
- Bias towards sexual orientation
- Bias towards religion
The top bias was towards Black or African Americans, second was towards people of Hispanic or Latino descent.
The top offense type was through intimidation.
According to the FBI, the top offender race was white and the top offender ethnicity was "Not Hispanic. "
In Colorado Springs, 75% of hate crimes involved bias towards race/ethnicity/ancestry.
The data is collected through local law enforcement agencies that report hate crimes brought to their attention monthly or quarterly to the FBI.
Read the full data on hate crimes in Colorado provided by the FBI here.
