10% of hate crimes occur at schools, FBI report reveals

Key findings: The report, released on Monday, shows an increase from 7,181 hate crime incidents and 8,492 related offenses in 2018 to 11,643 and 13,346 in 2022. After near homes (26.8%) and streets (15.7%), schools or college campuses are the third most common location for hate crimes to occur (10.2%).

Of the total reported cases, 4,343 of hate crime offenses occurred in schools, with elementary or secondary schools reporting the highest increase from 327 in 2020 to 890 in 2022. Around 30% of victims and 36% of offenders were juveniles, the report said.

Victims: Of 2,624 race-related cases, anti-Black offenses topped the list with 1,690 cases. Meanwhile, there were 105 anti-Asian offenses reported in the same period.

Of the 950 religion-related hate crime offenses, 745 were anti-Jewish. With 342 cases, anti-LGBT (mixed group) saw the most offenses in those related to sexual orientation, followed by anti-gay (male) with 306.

Offenses: Intimidation was reported as the most common type of bias-motivated offense, with 1,097 cases in race-related issues and 304 in the sexual orientation category. Meanwhile, the majority of offenses in religion-related hate crimes were destruction/damage/vandalism, with anti-Jewish attacks taking up most of the reports (531 out of 588).

Why it matters: This is the first time the FBI and the Justice Department have presented a comprehensive look into hate crime reports in schools. The data is expected to provide a deeper understanding for law enforcement and school administrators so they could work to prevent hate crimes.