Latest Hate crimes News

Jussie Smollett’s conviction in 2019 attack on himself is overturned

Nov. 21, 2024 18:46 PM EST

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying to Chicago police, saying he should not have been charged a second time after reaching a deal with...

Woman faces hate crime charges after confronting man wearing 'Palestine' shirt

Nov. 19, 2024 20:35 PM EST

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago woman faces hate crime charges for allegedly confronting a Palestinian American man wearing a sweatshirt with “Palestine” written on it and trying to knock a cellphone out of his pregnant wife's hands as she recorded the encounter, authorities and...

Naval Academy graduate charged with hate crime for tearing down LGBTQ+ pride flag

Nov. 19, 2024 19:50 PM EST

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A U.S. Naval Academy graduate ripped down a tattoo shop's LGBTQ+ pride flag and put it in the trash, Annapolis police said in documents charging him with a hate crime. Charlie Garrett, co-owner of the Dapper Dog Tattoo Shop, told police Friday morning that the...

Brother of dead suspect in fires at Boston-area Jewish institutions pleads guilty

Nov. 18, 2024 15:21 PM EST

BOSTON (AP) — The brother of a man suspected in four Boston-area arsons involving Jewish institutions in 2019 pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to charges that he obstructed the investigation. Alexander Giannakakis, formerly of Quincy, Massachusetts, was working in security...

California man sentenced to life for hate crime in the killing of a gay college student

Nov. 15, 2024 22:11 PM EST

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A California man convicted of stabbing to death a gay University of Pennsylvania student in an act of hate was sentenced Friday to life without parole in prison. Samuel Woodward, 27, was sentenced in a Southern California courtroom at the end of an all-day...

Three more college students charged with hate crimes after assault in Maryland

Nov. 15, 2024 11:14 AM EST

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — Police in Maryland have arrested three more Salisbury University students on hate crime charges following an attack in which investigators say a man was lured to an off-campus apartment, beaten and called a homophobic slur. The latest arrests brought the...

12 college students charged with hate crimes after assault in Maryland

Nov. 12, 2024 12:33 PM EST

BALTIMORE (AP) — A dozen students at a university on Maryland’s Eastern Shore have been arrested after they lured a man to an off-campus apartment, beat him up and called him a homophobic slur, according to local police. In addition to assault and false imprisonment, the 12 young...

NYC trio charged with hate crimes linked to pro-Palestinian vandalism of museum officials’ homes

Nov. 04, 2024 16:31 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Three people have been indicted on hate crimes charges in connection with red paint that was smeared on the homes of Brooklyn Museum officials during a wave of pro-Palestinian protests this summer, prosecutors announced Monday. Taylor Pelton, Samuel Seligson and...

Biden marks anniversary of Pittsburgh synagogue attack that killed 11

Oct. 27, 2024 13:43 PM EDT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday marked the sixth anniversary of a gunman's deadly attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue and called out what he called an “appalling surge of antisemitism” amid the war in Gaza. The 2018 attack claimed the lives of 11 worshippers from...

Australia's leader rejects Beijing's claims that his country is rife with 'racism and hate crimes'

Oct. 24, 2024 21:52 PM EDT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected accusations from Beijing that his country is “plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes” after an Australian diplomat led a group of Western nations in renewing concerns about human rights violations in...