A new local report has found that hate incidents in Orange County, California, have risen for the 7th straight year.
According to Voice of OC, the Orange County Human Relations Council released a report that found hate crimes in the OC increased by 6 percent from 2020 to 2021. There were 375 reported hate incidents and crimes in 2020 and 398 in 2021.
“No one is born into the world with hate in their heart; hate feeds off inaction and by looking the other way. Here in Orange County, we refuse to look the other way. We refuse to let hate fester and grow and for people to be victimized because of how they look, who they love, or what they believe in,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the report, according to Spectrum News.
Spitzer created a hate crimes unit in 2020 that he said is working diligently to prosecute hate crimes.
Orange County Human Relations CEO Allison Lehmann Edwards told Voices of OC that leaders need to understand the impact of their divisive rhetoric.
“We all need to keep communicating that to those who have influence, and who are charged with that responsibility to lead us through this era,” she said. “I don’t mean to oversimplify this, but it feels like we’re in a time where we are unlikely to recognize each other’s humanity.”
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