LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Hate crimes were a topic of discussion at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s First Tuesday meeting in the northeast valley this month.
“We’ve seen plenty of incidents where anyone who is different from the norm is targeted,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff, Sasha Larkin said in an interview 8 News Now obtained in April of 2023.
They’re crimes motivated by bias against race, color, religion sexual orientation, gender, or disability.
Unfortunately, not all hateful behavior, including hate speech, is considered a crime by law enforcement.
According to The Nevada Department of Public Safety, hate crimes across Clark County are up 60% with 133 reported cases this year compared to last year.
In Tuesday’s meeting, Clark County Deputy District Attorney, John Taylor stated that they’ve seen a spike in anti-white crimes with places such as parking garages and camps being prime areas where many of these incidents take place.
Race and ethnicity continue to be a top target for hate crimes and with the ongoing battle overseas between Israel and Hamas, local religious groups are seeing an uptick against them too.
“It’s getting really concerning – the antisemitism, the violence, the oppression of civil rights of Jewish students and Jewish people is very concerning,” Dan Laird a resident said in an interview 8 News Now obtained in May of 2024.
While the FBI hasn’t put out an updated list of hate crime statistics for this year, in 2022, they reported nearly 12,000 incidents, which is relatively low due to so many of these crimes going unreported.
