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SLO remains the Central Coast hot spot for hate crimes

August 7, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

The City of San Luis Obispo continues to lead the Central Coast in incidents of hate crimes, according to the 2022 Hate Crime in California Report released in June.

Despite comprising 2% of the total population of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Monterey and Ventura counties, San Luis Obispo accounted for 22% of all reported hate crime incidents on the Central Coast in 2022.

San Luis Obispo County reported 21 hate crime incidents in 2022.

Santa Barbara County reported 17 hate crime incidents in 2022.

Ventura County reported 24 hate crime incidents in 2022, while Monterey County reported 11.

California classifies a hate crime incident as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”

The San Luis Obispo Police Department’s high rate of reported hate crimes could be related to the department’s policy of reporting expressions of hate along with hate crimes. During the first half of 2023, SLO logged five hate crimes, four of which are reported as verbal slurs.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department saw a large jump in hate crimes in 2022, with 17 reported. There were several cases of stolen Pride flags, a vandalism incident where racial slurs were spray painted at a school and a hate crime case that included stalking and threats.

In California, reported hate crime events increased 20.2% from 1,763 in 2021 to 2,120 in 2022, according to the report.

Key findings in the 2022 Hate Crime in California Report:

  • Anti-Black or African American bias events increased 27.1% from 513 in 2021 to 652 in 2022.
  • Anti-Hispanic bias crimes rose from 197 in 2021 to 210 in 2022.
  • Anti-Asian bias events fell from 247 in 2021 to 140 in 2022, a decrease of 43.3%.
  • Anti-Jewish bias events increased 24.3% from 152 in 2021 to 189 in 2022.
  • Anti-Protestant bias events rose from 2 in 2021 to 12 in 2022.
  • Anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias crimes rose from 18 in 2021 to 25 in 2022.
  • Anti-transgender bias events increased from 38 in 2021 to 59 in 2022.
  • Anti-gay (male) bias events increased 28.4% from 211 in 2021 to 271 in 2022
  • Anti-lesbian bias crimes rose from 27 in 2021 to 33 in 2022.

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For all of you who are confused, here is an example from this weekend:


https://apnews.com/article/deadly-shooting-florida-store-race-bd2bf9591f40903a923dbd8a46d8fb97


0

All you have to do to verify the reason we have such a hate crime problem is read all these comments below.


Here is an example of 2 hate crimes just at Monarch Grove Elementary that were never even reported:


Oct 2019, the last time the school had a dance, the PTA president allowed a student wearing a noose as part of a costume (an 8 yr old) into the dance because she “didn’t want to explain the negative connotation of a noose to his mom.” Bringing a noose on to a public school is an actual hate crime under state law. As reward, the school hired her as a counseling aide.


This spring a 5th grade white student told a black student her “face looks like a monkey.” When called out for the comment by non-Monarch related counselors (at camp), she cried and was told by Monarch staff and parents that it was ok. They did not even report it to the parents of the child insulted.


I am a US Army veteran, now 100% disabled as a result of my service injuries. I was stationed at Ft Ord with the 7th ID(L) until it closed and I chose to leave the Army after DADT. I moved to Georgia for college, lived there for a decade before moving back to the west coast. In the 5 years in SLO county, I have seen and witnessed more hate crimes than in the entire last 30 years living all over.


Again, if you want to understand the level of hate in this county, read the comments below. Amazing how many people try and justify their hate.


Also Ezekiel 16:49 for those of you who think your hate of others is biblically approved.


-5

The two examples given of children’s interactions are not hateful nor criminal.

These are kids, they are not born with all the politically correct ultra-sensitive rhetoric of the liberal left.


4

Oh, the PTA principal did the right thing?


She broke the law. She allowed every minority to be terrorized because she was too scared to say no to the white parent. The kid I don’t blame. Whatever adult tied a noose for them, that is the one who needs serious mental health care.


https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-11411/


Did you bother to read the Bible verse?


0

Sorry, PTA President. The principal was nowhere around that night.


0

Mommy! Tommy is looking at me! Make him stop!


Well, that stupid little munchkin grew up and went to Cal Poly or UCSB and the only thing that changed is now they are complaining to their DEI counselor that Tommy is looking at them. Oh, and the DEI counselor is getting paid $200K to perpetuate this stupid, childish, fraudulent behavior. Got to keep that paycheck rolling in!


4

A DEI counselor at CP makes $200k?


Bit hyperbolic there. You can very easily see the salary of every state employee, including CSU ones.


The folks doing DEI work are usually the worst paid, virtually always staff, and if they are faculty, tenure is usually very hard to get. But do not take my word for it, please just look up the data yourself.


-2

What is a “hate crime”? Is it actually illegal to not like somebody/something, and voice your negative opinion about them/it? I’m not wrong, when I say the 1st Amendment not only allows “hate speech”, but encourages it.


Of course, now you have to ask, what is “hate speech”. Should I call you a doo doo head, are you offended enough to call the Cops for my expression of alleged “hate”? No law says you cannot be offended. Some folks believe their rights are above yours, and here is where we get “hate crimes”.


Break something that is not yours, physically hurt someone without cause, create and encourage a violent act? These are actual crimes, whether or not hate was involved at all. Calling any action that may offend someone “hate”, is opening the door to destruction of the Constitution. Hate isn’t criminal nor a crime.


The AG seems to have made a list of what HE thinks is “criminal hate”, and it also looks to be rather racist in construction. Remember when BLM stopped traffic on a major highway and city streets, violently attacked motorists, destroyed property, and frightened citizens right here in SLO? How many “hate crimes” were called in? I’ll bet, due to the demographics of the rioters, no “hate crime” was directed toward the BLM fanatics, nor added to the AG’s list.


I would also bet, that the very large majority of these so-called “hate crimes” were created out of whole cloth.


Proof? Proof? I don’t need no stinkin’ proof! Just a simple phone call, and a hate crime is born..


2

4 Of 5 hate crimes in 2023 in SLO were verbal slurs. Are these “crimes” prosecutable? Does the “I’m rubber, you are glue” defense apply?


32

Yes I have overheard those verbal slurs: Christian hypocrite, Republican, corporate America and heterosexual to name a few. Much have become a topic to slur.


2

I thought Templeton was the hotbed of hate crimes. Are Templetontonians driving down the grade to SLO?


-4

The City of San Luis Obispo enforces hate laws more vigorously.


-17

At this point in 2023, all these groups are complaing about, is everyday life for everyone. Gimme a break. No one has it easy. If there’s a white male patriarchy in place; I seem to be missing some checks.


37

I think the chief complaint is that crimes are being committed against our fellow Americans with specific hatred for their race, color, or creed. If I was beat up because someone wanted to steal my money, that would be awful – we agree. If I was beat up because someone didn’t like the color of my skin, or the god I prayed to, that would be worse – we agree? The psychological affect of hate crimes is tremendous and anti-American, it’s something our law enforcement should track and seek convictions for. Where people get hung up is mixing up hate speech (something morally wrong, but not illegal on its own) and hate crimes (actual crime), the left does it, so does the right who frequently ignore the significant challenges our country has with bigotry. America does better than most all other nations, we do that by holding ourselves to the highest standards – out of many, one.


-28

Right wing hate is off the charts, threating judges, law enforcement officers, murders in synagogues, black churches, January 6th. There is no comparison.


-36

I wasn’t comparing, I was just saying that people on the left and the right misconstrue what constitutes a hate crime. Like was the riot on 01/06/21 a reprehensible act motivated by conspiracy, idolatry, and an event that stains our history? Obviously. But it wasn’t a “hate crime”.


-20

Off the charts? Really? Can you show us the credible details of this chart?


11

Listen to Trump and DeSantis, they drip hate.


-18

I am just trying to understand what a “hate crime” is? Who the protected groups are?- It’s basically a crime against any number of groups that are determined by someone be it on racial or sexual identity?


It does not appear to have anything to do with being a minority group- as White people are not listed here, even thought they are a minority group in California, while a non-minority group: Hispanics (who compose a majority of Californians) are listed as a group that can be “hated” against..


Where does this thing end exactly? Everyone except for white straights get extra protections under the law?

What is the criteria for who is an isn’t a protected group of people and where does this end? Who is deciding who gets extra protections under the law, and who does not?


66

Actually in Table 1 on page 8 you can see the figures for hate crimes that are classified as anti-white (first row), anti-heterosexual, and anti-male. They’re less common than a lot of of biases, but more common than some… I won’t speculate here as to why they’re lower (particularly per capital), but I imagine the answer is part of why it’s important to track these categories of criminal intent.


-34

I am begging downvoters to explain why when confronted with the specific text that resolves a specific complaint (white people not being listed … They are!) The response is to hit the thumb down. Is it because I didn’t thoroughly address all 7 question marks in the post, or is it because you don’t like that there is something you can’t be angry about?


-32

Here’s a pretty good article that may clear up some of your confusion:


https://www.hrc.org/resources/hate-crimes-timeline


And, fyi, everyone in the U.S. is protected by the law—in fact, “white straights” get the most protection. Law enforcement has consistently been proven to be more lenient when it comes to “white straights” with prison sentences usually much lighter than minority groups, especially African-Americans. According to the “Sentencing Project” website, “Prosecutors are more likely to charge people of color with crimes that carry heavier sentences than whites.” Moreover, “white straight” communities spend far more money on law enforcement to protect, you guessed it, “white straights” than communities of color even have.


https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/report-to-the-united-nations-on-racial-disparities-in-the-u-s-criminal-justice-system/#:~:text=Biased%20use%20of%20discretion%3A%20Prosecutors,sentence%20than%20similarly%20situated%20whites.


I find it laughable that “white straights” in this country believe they are somehow getting less than other groups. It’s a myth that has been perpetrated by people like Rush Limbaugh and Steve Bannon to make sure that the American working and middle classes remain divided to the benefit of the wealthy, for if these two groups ever did unite there would be instant change in this nation that would be amazing for average folks like you and me. MLK Jr. talked about this. Unfortunately, the nation never really absorbed King’s message.


-47