LOS ANGELES, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The number of hate crimes increased across the U.S. state of California for the third straight year in 2017, jumping roughly 44 percent in that three-year span, records showed.
Local law enforcement reported 1,093 hate crimes in 2017, a 17.4 percent year-on-year increase, according to a report released Monday by the California attorney general's office.
The number of hate-crime incidents reported in California last year targeting victims based on race, sexual orientation and religion all increased sharply.
Hate crime events involving a racial bias increased 16 percent from 519 in 2016 to 602 in 2017, and about 27 percent involved animus toward black people, the report showed.
Hate crimes based on religion also rose, by 21.1 percent compared with the prior year. Anti-Jewish incidents increased by 26.8 percent, while crimes against Muslims rose by 24.3 percent.
Hate crimes had been trending downward in California for years, records show. Reported hate crimes in the state decreased every year from 2007 to 2014, reaching a low of 758 alleged incidents in California, according to the attorney general's report.
The surge comes at a time when hate crimes are also on the rise nationally. From 2015 to 2016, hate crimes reported in the United States increased by 4.6 percent, according to a FBI's Uniform Crime Report.
