Arizona

Hate Crime Statistics Case Examples

News DOJ Offices

2023 Hate Crime Statistics for Arizona*

Bias Motivation Categories by Year

Bias Motivation Category	2021	2022	2023
Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry	61	138	135
Religion	15	27	56
Sexual Orientation	16	42	39
Disability	0	2	3
Gender	0	5	11
Gender Identity	4	14	11
Total:	96	228	255

Types of Crime

Crimes Against Persons	178	68.4%
Crimes Against Property	79	30.4%
Crimes Against Society	3	1.2%

Bias Motivation Categories

Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry	135	52.9%
Religion	56	22.0%
Sexual Orientation	39	15.3%
Disability	3	1.2%
Gender	11	4.3%
Gender Identity	11	4.3%

*2021 was the first year that the annual hate crimes statistics were reported entirely through the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). As a result of the shift to NIBRS-only data collection, law enforcement agency participation in submitting all crime statistics, including hate crimes, fell significantly from 2020 to 2021.

Case Examples

A federal court sentenced a Washington man to seven years in prison for his role in a plot to threaten journalists and advocates. The man, a leader of the Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, targeted people who were working against anti-Semitism. Three others pled guilty for their roles in the plot in prior hearings.

According to evidence, the participants in this plot made threatening posters. The posters contained Nazi symbols, threatening language and imagery. The posters were then distributed to members of Atomwaffen Division online. Members of the hate-group then delivered or mailed the posters to targeted journalists and advocates.

In Seattle, the group sent posters to a TV journalist who had reported on Atomwaffen Division. The posters were also sent to members of the Anti-Defamation League, a leading Jewish civil rights organization. The group also targeted journalists in Phoenix and Tampa for reporting on anti-Semitism.

Complaint: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/press-release/file/1252306/download

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/arrests-four-states-racially-motivated-violent-extremists-targeting-journalists-and

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-neo-nazi-group-sentenced-plot-target-journalists-and-advocates