2016 Hate Crimes In Iowa Nearly Triple From Previous Year: FBI

Iowa hate crimes reported to the FBI for 2016 nearly tripled from a year earlier, but overall Iowa had fewer reported hate crimes last year than 41 other states. Nationally, more than 6,000 hate crimes were reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies, according to statistics released this week.

Iowa had six reported hate crimes in 2015 and 17 in 2016. The only states reporting fewer last year were Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Mississippi, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Wyoming.

The FBI's annual report includes data from more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. Iowa has 241 reporting agencies and, among them, 12 reported the 17 hate crimes.

All of Iowa's reported hate crimes fell into the categories of intimidation, simple assault or aggravated assault. In 2015, the six hate crimes reported were in the areas of aggravated assault, intimidation, burglary and larceny.

Of the nationwide hate crimes reported for 2016, 57.5 percent were motivated by race or ethnicity, 21 percent by religion, 17.7 percent by sexual orientation, and other incidents by gender or disability, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting statistics. Of Des Moines' three reported crimes, two were deemed to be motivated by race/ethnicity and one to religion. West Des Moines reported one hate crime based on sexual orientation.

The FBI report said more than 7,600 people were victims of hate crimes during 2016, while 2,813 were victims of crimes against property, and 82 were victims of hate crimes categorized as crimes against society.

The report also indicated most hate crimes occurred in homes or on roadways. "The remaining incidents were perpetrated at a variety of other locations, including schools and houses of worship, commercial and government buildings, restaurants and nightclubs, parking lots and garages, playgrounds and parks, and even medical facilities," according to the report.

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