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Iowa

A graphic of a blue U.S. map with Iowa highlighted in yellow.

Please click the image/link below to download a fact sheet with detailed graphics and information on hate crimes reported to the FBI for Iowa in 2022.

Image of the 2022 Iowa Hate Crimes Fact Sheet

 

 

Fast Facts on Iowa Hate Crime Incidents*

Bias Motivation Categories by Year

Bias Motivation Category 2020 2021 2022
Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry 12 75 41
Religion 0 10 8
Sexual Orientation 3 10 18
Disability 0 4 2
Gender 0 3 1
Gender Identity 0 3 3
Total: 15 105 73

Types of Crime

Crimes Against Persons 45 58.4%
Crimes Against Property 32 41.6%
Crimes Against Society 0 0.0%

Bias Motivation Categories

Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry 41 56.2%
Religion 8 11.0%
Sexual Orientation 18 24.7%
Disability 2 2.7%
Gender 1 1.4%
Gender Identity 3 4.1%

 


*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

An Iowa woman was sentenced on two hate crimes charges for attempting to kill two children because of their race and national origin. The defendant was sentenced to two 25-year terms in federal prison running concurrently, with the sentences to overlap with the sentence imposed in her state court case.

On December 9, 2019, the defendant was driving her car on Creston Avenue in Des Moines, where the first child-victim was walking along the sidewalk with a family member who was also a child. Upon seeing the children and believing them to be of Middle Eastern or African descent, the defendant drove her vehicle over the curb towards the children, striking one of them, and then fleeing the scene.

About 30 minutes later, she was driving her Jeep near Indian Hills Junior High School in Clive, Iowa. The defendant saw a child that she believed was Mexican walking on the sidewalk. The defendant drove her vehicle over the curb and hit the child-victim, causing serious injury, including a concussion, bruises, and cuts. The defendant again fled the scene, but was caught later that day.

Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iowa-woman-sentenced-304-months-prison-hate-crimes-involving-attempting-kill-two-children

An Iowa man was convicted of first-degree murder under Iowa law for his role in kidnapping, torture, and execution of a gender-fluid high school student in Burlington, Iowa in March 2016. Last year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore authorized a federal hate-crimes prosecutor from the Civil Rights Division to be cross-designated as a Special Assistant County Attorney to assist with the prosecutions of both defendants in this case in the Iowa courts. The evidence established that the defendants pulled up next to the victim, who was dressed in women’s clothing and presenting as female and flirted with him. They convinced the victim to get in the car with them and took him to a location the defendants often went to have sex with young women. The physical evidence showed the defendants knocked the victim unconscious, gagged him, and wrapped a plastic bag around his head. The defendants then took the victim to an alley, shot him twice in the chest, and doused his body in bleach to destroy physical evidence.

Conviction: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-convicted-first-degree-murder-joint-kidnapping-torture-and-execution-gender-fluid-teen


News

September 12, 2024

United States Attorney’s Office for Southern District of Iowa Hosts United Against Hate Event in Marshalltown


October 11, 2023

United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa to Host United Against Hate Event in Des Moines


April 26, 2023

United States Attorney’s Office Hosts United Against Hate Meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa


April 18, 2023

United Against Hate Event to be Held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa


August 20, 2021

Iowa Woman Sentenced to 304 Months in Prison for Hate Crimes Involving Attempting to Kill Two Children Because of their Race and National Origin


April 22, 2021

Iowa Woman Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Charges for Attempting to Kill Two Children Because of their Race and National Origin


October 23, 2019

United States Attorney’s Office, Inter-Religious Council of Linn County, and Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission Host Forum on Protecting Places of Worship


October 6, 2018

Man Convicted of First-Degree Murder For Joint Kidnapping, Torture, and Execution of Gender-Fluid Teen Kedarie Johnson


July 23, 2019

Iowa Man Charged With Making Threats To Manhattan-Based Jewish Organization


 


Resources

The resources below include specific examples, experiences, or information related to Iowa.
Go to the Resources page to access all resources.

Film/Documentary | Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) | Law Enforcement, Public Officials, Victim Advocacy Groups/General Community

Not In Our Town: On the Ground with Law Enforcement


 

DOJ Offices

FBI Field Offices

FBI

 

Omaha
4411 South 121st Court
Omaha, NE 68137-2112

T: 402.493.8688
omaha.fbi.gov


U.S. Attorneys' Offices

DOJ

 

Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids)
www.justice.gov/usao-ndia/contact-us

Southern District of Iowa (Des Moines)
www.justice.gov/usao-sdia/contact-us


CRS Regional Offices

CRS

 

Central Regional Office
601 E. 12th Street
Suite 0802
Kansas City, MO 64106

T: 816.426.7434
F: 816.426.7441
askcrs@usdoj.gov

Updated September 17, 2024