As your district attorney, I will continue to fight hate
Last year, hate crimes reported in California increased more than 30% over the previous year, reaching their highest level since 2001. Members of the Black community are the most targeted group in the state, according to the recently released 2021 Hate Crime in California report. Statewide, crimes against the LGBTQ+ community jumped by almost 50%. Incidents involving animus against Latinos increased by about 30%. Religious animus played a role in roughly 20% more reported crimes than the previous year. And hate crimes against Americans of Asian descent rose an unfathomable 177.5% since 2020. Here in Los Angeles, hate crimes involving our AAPI neighbors reached levels not seen since the 1990s.
As district attorney for Los Angeles County, it is my job to lead our community toward a safer, healthier future. A prosecutor's primary role is to impose accountability for harms caused, especially those with far-reaching effects, like hate crimes. My attorneys take every hate crime allegation seriously. Whether the crime stemmed from bias founded in race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity. We treat these cases with tremendous care and an unwavering dedication to seeking justice and ensuring accountability. Last year, our office filed 86% of the hate crime cases referred to us, far above the state-wide average of 54%. We also secured convictions in 15 out of the 17 hate crime cases closed in 2021.
Prosecutions, however, are reactive and only occur after people have already suffered tremendous harm. That is why I am also working handin-hand with the community and elected officials to stop the causes of these horrific increases.
We must begin by acknowledging the reasons why so many in our community are under attack. The reality is, many of our elected leaders have long capitalized on hate for political gain. But Donald Trump's ascendancy to power brought hateful rhetoric and blatant prejudice to the forefront of political conversations. To many, attacks motivated by animus became politically acceptable.
People follow by example, and this rhetoric has inspired, and opened the floodgates to, the increased violence against minority groups we see today. This must end.
I will continue to use my platform and position as your elected district attorney to fight back against the hateful rhetoric circulated by prominent officials in this country. And we as a community must all use our platforms, whether as an elected leader, activist, faith leader or friend, to encourage others to vote politicians out of office when they use bigoted language to score cheap political points.
This epidemic of hate is something that we, as a society, must grapple with together. It will take all of us, coming together and establishing new partnerships where we work to devise solutions that help us step out of a world where hate thrives. To that end, this summer and fall, my office will be partnering with the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission to lead a series of community-based forums across the county. These forums will bring together stakeholders, community leaders, residents, service providers and law enforcement to develop a thoughtful and inclusive plan of action to address and overcome the plague of hate in Los Angeles. We expect this plan to include initiatives in education, intervention and prevention, and enforcement.
We live in increasingly troubling times where many, especially those in our vulnerable communities, feel more afraid every day. The only way we will prevent crimes of hate and increase safety is by coming together to create solutions that incorporate all of our voices and reflect our collective experience.
That is what I will be working toward during these community forums and what I hold out as my goal as your district attorney. I make this promise to every member of our community, regardless of your background, how you identify, who you love, or how you worship or vote, I will never stop fighting for you.