Hate Crimes Rose In Massachusetts In 2020: Report

BOSTON — There was a slight rise in the number of hate crimes across the Bay State, a new 2020 hate crimes report from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said Friday.

There were 385 reported hate crimes from Massachusetts in 2020, up nine from the reported 376 in 2019. The findings came from 85 municipal police departments, 9 campus police agencies, and the Massachusetts General Hospital Police Department.

The report says 271 agencies across the commonwealth submitted "zero reports" indicating that they had no bias-motivated incidents, with 38 non-reporting agencies.

A "hate crime," often known as a "bias crime" is not reported as a stand-alone offense, but a separate criminal violation, ranging from vandalism to harassment to violent crimes, the report explains.

Of the hate crimes reported in 2020, the most frequent offenses were vandalism, damage, or destruction of property at 32.9%. Simple assault and aggravated assault incidents both represented a significant portion of offenses at 19% and 11.4% respectively.

When it came to violent crime, there were 45 bias-motivated aggravated assaults reported in 2020, up two from the 43 in 2019, the EOPSS said.

In 2020, prejudice against race or ethnicity was the most widely reported bias motivation, representing 66.4% of the total, which was up from 51.3% in 2019. Bias against religious groups was the second most frequent motivator with 15.7% of the total, which was down from 24% in 2019. Sexual orientation bias was third with 14.3%, which is also down from 21.9% in 2019.

The most frequent victims of violent hate crimes were men, standing at 52.5%. The known offenders of hate crimes continue to be predominantly male-identifying with 78.1%.

Women were found to be victims in 47.5% of incidents. Female offenders accounted for 21.9% of all reported hate crimes in 2020, up 16.4% from 2019.

White people accounted for 77.5% of known offenders, which is up from 72% in 2019. Black victims of both genders comprised 24.2% of the total victim population, down from 38% the previous year. Black offenders comprised 22.1% of offenders, down from 24.4% the previous year.

Victims were reported to have some type of injury in 11.3% of cases, which is an increase as compared to past years, where typical numbers hover around 7 to 8%. Of the 33 total injuries, 9 resulted in a major injury of some type which is a decrease from 13 in 2019.

This report comes during the same week Curry College offered up a $10,000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest of a person who has been leaving hateful language and threatening messages across campus for a month. Police got involved after discovering over twenty swastikas in a residence hall laundry room earlier in February.

As this report was released Friday, Gov. Charlie Baker said his administration endorsed an updated definition of antisemitism as a way of "reaffirming its commitment to combatting antisemitism and all forms of hate, wherever it is found.