The United States Congress defines a hate crime 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, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.” The following facts and figures are from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2012 annual hate crime statistics report.
Hate Groups by the Numbers
There are 939 active hate groups in the United States – a 56 percent increase since 2000. The number of such groups surged in response to the election of the first African-American president, Barack Obama, and the economic downturn.
Hate Crime Incidents
In 2012, there were a total of 5,796 hate crime incidents nationwide, with 7,164 victims.