By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Law enforcement agencies reported a total of 7,615 victims of hate crimes nationwide in 2016.
The largest motivation for committing hate crimes is race, which accounted for 57.5% of the reported cases, the FBI revealed Monday.
More than 20% of the hate crimes involved a religious bias. Nearly 18% involved a religious bias. The remaining hate crimes were motivated by a gender identity, disability or gender bias.
The largest percentage of hate crimes – 27.3% – occur in or near residences. Another 18.4% happen on or near some type of roadway.
“The Bureau will also continue to combat hate crimes that fall under federal jurisdiction—the number one investigative priority under our Civil Rights Program—and offer operational assistance to our local and state law enforcement partners during their hate crime investigations,” the FBI said in a press release.
