Hate Attacks On Whites See More Arrests Than Those Against Blacks

NEW YORK — Anti-white hate crimes have led to more arrests in New York City this year than attacks on black people — even though the latter are more common, statistics show.

Police collared 15 suspects in anti-white hate crimes but made just 10 arrests in hate crimes against black people through Sept. 1, according to preliminary crime figures the NYPD released Wednesday.

That’s despite the fact that bigots have attacked more black people than white this year. Cops had recorded 29 anti-black hate crimes as of last Sunday but only 24 incidents targeting white people, NYPD data show.

Bias-fueled attacks on traditionally oppressed groups such as Jewish, LGBT and black people have fueled this year’s 41 percent spike in hate crimes citywide, police data show. But the arrest discrepancy suggests the handful of attacks on white people may have been more violent than others, according to hate crime expert Frank Pezzella.

“It could be that … the anti-white victims have been subjected to such injury that it facilitated enforcement and arrest in a way that anti-black hate crimes did not,” said Pezzella, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Total hate crime arrests shot up 25 percent through Sept. 1 to 135 from 108 in the same period in 2018, the NYPD says. Arrests in anti-white crimes have seen the biggest increase — there have been 10 more so far this year than in the first eight months of 2018, compared with just two more arrests in anti-black attacks.

The 15 anti-white hate crime arrests are equivalent to about 62 percent of the total number of reported incidents. That’s well above the rate of 34 percent for anti-black crimes and 27 percent for anti-Semitic attacks, according to the NYPD’s figures.

The Police Department did not provide a breakdown of the types of crimes that have targeted white New Yorkers. But Pezzella’s research has shown that white hate crime victims are more likely to experience serious injuries compared to white crime victims generally, he said.

Anti-white hate crimes can stem from an attacker’s racial prejudice, Pezzella said, but they’re often committed in retaliation for another crime — or as a result of the nation’s polarized racial climate.

Attacks on white people may be “a consequence of Charlottesville, a consequence of the emergence of the alt-right, the emergence of these right-wing protesters and stuff like that,” Pezzella said, referring to the violence that unfolded at a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

While reported anti-white hate crimes have jumped 85 percent so far this year from just 13 incidents at this time last year, other bigoted attacks have also seen significant spikes, NYPD figures show.

There were 152 anti-Semitic attacks through Sept. 1, an alarming 63 percent increase from the same time in 2018, according to police data. Gender-based attacks have risen 83 percent to 11, and anti-black crimes have increased 12 percent from 26 last year.

The NYPD treats hate crimes seriously and each one is "vigorously investigated" by the department's Hate Crime Task Force, according to Sgt. Jessica McRorie, a police spokesperson.

Several factors can influence whether hate crimes lead to arrests, including when the incident gets reported to police, available evidence, whether a suspect stayed at the scene or nearby, and whether the victim can identify the suspect, McRorie said.

"Victims of hate crimes can be assured that they will be provided with the appropriate assistance, by the local precinct's Community Affairs team and the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force," McRorie said in an email.

The Police Department works with religious institutions and other community groups to address hate crimes, NYPD brass said last week. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration also recently opened a new Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, which was mandated by City Council legislation.

"We’ve seen a little bit of running the gamut in terms of who is perpetrating these crimes," Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said at a news conference last week. "But again, very significant increase in the arrests."