FBI Report: Hate crimes down

Crimes against gay men and women has surged but overall hate crime incidents decreased last year, says an FBI report. The decline was driven by decreases in crimes driven by race and religion.

But prejudice against sexual orientation increased about 6%, the report found. The findings aren't surprising to many since gay marriage and issues relevant to the gay community have been dominant in the headlines since California's Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage earlier this year.

Since 1995, the FBI has collected data regarding reported crimes motivated in whole or in part by a bias against the victim's perceived race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

The data released this week is consistent with previous years: Racial bias remains the most common motive, accounting for more than half of all reported hate crimes. African Americans, Jewish people and homosexuals were the most frequent victims of hate crimes, the report found.

More than a third of all hate crime incidents were categorized as vandalism or property destruction. Intimidation was the second most common hate crime, followed by simple assault.

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