ICYMI: California hotline receives 1,200 reports of hate in 2024

What you need to know: California vs. Hate help hotline received 1,200 reports of hate incidents last year.

SACRAMENTO - Amid increased acts of hate across the nation, the state's first-ever multilingual hotline and online portal for victims and witnesses of hate to document their experiences received nearly 1,200 reports last year. The data is based on self-reported information, which includes:

• 1,180 reports of hate, including reports made online and over the phone.
• More than two-thirds of reports of hate resulted in people agreeing to follow up for care coordination services, including support accessing legal aid or counseling.
• 49 of California's counties were represented in the data, including all 10 of the state's most populated counties.
• Racial or ethnic bias was mentioned in 44% of reports, followed by gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation (23%), religion (13%), and disability status (12%).
• Some of the most reported locations were residential (31%), public facilities or businesses (18%), and at work (12%).

California vs. Hate, an initiative of the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), was launched in direct response to having an alarming increase in reported hate crime events across the country.

Extremists and extremist groups

There are over 100 active hate-motivated extremist groups in California, according to state law enforcement experts, compared to nearly 1,400 hate-motivated extremist groups nationwide.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security report, White supremacist and anti-government violent extremists are considered a top domestic terror threat. Unfortunately, in an attempt to suppress this vital information from the public, the Trump Administration removed this report from the federal government's website. For reference, it can be viewed here.

Increases in reported hate crimes

Separate from hate incidents, hate crimes are criminal acts like threats and assaults motivated by bias against a victim's race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability.

According to the California Department of Justice, from 2020 to 2024, hate crime events in California increased by over 50%. From 2023 to 2024, hate crime events, offenses, victims and suspects all increased.

• Reported hate crime events increased 2.7%
• Hate crime offenses increased 8.9%
• The number of victims of reported hate crimes increased 8.2%
• Hate crime events involving a religious bias increased 3%
• Hate crime events motivated by sexual orientation bias increased by 12.3%
• The number of hate crimes referred for prosecution increased

Many hate crimes have historically gone unreported due to a variety of factors, including access barriers for people who speak other languages, fear of retaliation or that nothing will be done. In addition, traditional pathways for reporting hate have typically only focused on incidents that are criminal in nature, leaving many Californians without a place to go after being targeted by non-criminal acts of hate.

Fighting hate and protecting all communities

Earlier this year, Governor Newsom announced $76 million in grants, made in partnership with the state Legislature, to 347 community groups across the state to protect nonprofits and houses of worship from violence, the most that's ever been awarded. Nearly doubling previous award amounts, this year's California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program awardees received funding due to their high risk for violent attacks and hate crimes due to ideology, beliefs or mission with funding for security enhancements.

The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) administers these funds, which directly support physical security measures such as reinforced doors, gates, high-intensity lighting, access control systems, development and enhancement of security plans and protocols. Since the inception of the program in fiscal year 2015, the state has awarded $228,750,000 in state funding to 1,271 organizations at high risk of being targeted for hate crimes.