LARGEST NUMBER OF HATE CRIMES ARE AGAINST HOMELESS
From Indybay.org
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Hate Crimes Against Homeless Outnumber All Other Hate Crimes Combined
by Edward Campbell
1,074 bias motivated attacks against the homeless reported between 1999 and 2010 including 43 murders, 291 murders in the past decade according to statistics compiled by the organization.
Hate Crimes against the homeless documented in this years report included, “dosing with gasoline and setting aflame; rape in exchange for shelter; spay painting and stomping upon while sleeping; and, repeated incidence of gang initiations involving stabbings and beatings,” 1 in 3 resulting in death in this drastically under reported field of criminology.
Although hate crimes against the homeless were reported in 47 states, California and Florida were the most deadly places for the homeless to live in 2010 with more than 100 violent attacks upon the homeless in each; 213 were reported in California, 117 in Florida.
The FBI does not officially recognize violent crimes against the homeless as legitimate hate crime and local police departments were blamed for nearly 6% of all hate crimes against homeless men and women.
The Coalition also noted that as many communities across the united states increase their pressure on the homeless: 'There is a documented relationship between increased police action and the increasing numbers of hate crimes/violent acts against homeless people...One possible explanation for this is the message that criminalizing homelessness sends to the general public: “Homeless people do not matter and are not worthy of living in our city.”
This message is blatant in the attitudes many cities have toward homeless people and can be used as an internal justification for attacking someone who is homeless.'
The most common victim of a hate crime against the homeless was reported to be a middle aged man between 40-60 years of age, the most common perpetrators were young men 78% under 25 nearly half under the age of 20. 85% of the total number of victims were male.
In Redding California three teenage boys beat a homeless man to death with metal pipes and makeshift bats. In Colorado Springs, Colorado a 19 year old man beat a homeless man to death with a skateboard and latter bragged to his friends “I just killed a bum.” In Cleveland, Ohio, a serial killer raped and killed 11 homeless women. In North Little Rock, Arkansas a homeless man was shot by a high powered hunting rife from a car wind, the police have no suspects or leads in the case. In Seattle, Washington a homeless woman in a wheelchair was repeatedly raped as “payment” for a place to sleep. “I can rape you and get away with it…You’re homeless? No one cares about you,” the perpetrator reportedly claimed. To mention only a few of the incidents related in the report.