New York
Hate Crime Statistics Case Examples News
Resources DOJ offices
Bias Motivation Categories by Year
Bias Motivation Category | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|
Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry | 32 | 386 | 334 |
Religion | 21 | 421 | 533 |
Sexual Orientation | 15 | 123 | 145 |
Disability | 0 | 4 | 6 |
Gender | 2 | 0 | 4 |
Gender Identity | 1 | 19 | 26 |
Total: | 71 | 953 | 1,048 |
Types of Crime
Crimes Against Persons | 525 | 49.1% |
Crimes Against Property | 525 | 49.1% |
Crimes Against Society | 20 | 1.8% |
Bias Motivation Categories
Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry | 334 | 31.9% |
Religion | 533 | 50.9% |
Sexual Orientation | 145 | 13.8% |
Disability | 6 | 0.6% |
Gender | 4 | 0.4% |
Gender Identity | 26 | 2.4% |
*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 white supremacist leader was sentenced to over 3.5 years in prison for posting death threats against a Brooklyn journalist.
The leader of Feuerkrieg Division (“FKD”), an international racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist group, which translates to “War Fire,” posted death threats against a Brooklyn-based journalist so that he would stop reporting on the Neo-Nazi group.
According to evidence, the threat included a photograph of the Journalist with a gun aimed at his head and the words “Race Traitor” over the Journalist’s eyes. The threat stated, “JOURNALIST F[***] OFF! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.” The threat was sent in an online discussion forum and listed the journalist and his employer by name. Two under-aged FKD members tweeted the death threat directly at the journalist’s social media handle so that he would see it.
A former student at Cornell University pleaded guilty to posting violent threats on social media targeted at Jewish students.
In October 2023, the defendant posted on a Cornell online discussion forum threatening to “shoot up” the cafeteria and “bomb” the Jewish student house. The defendant threatened to “stab” and “slit the throat” of any Jewish man he saw on campus, to rape and throw off a cliff any Jewish women he saw, and to behead any Jewish babies. In that same post, he threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig jews.”
The defendant faces up to five years in prison.
A Manhattan man was sentenced to 27 months in prison for selling a gun to two men planning a violent attack on a New York City synagogue.
According to the charges, one of the men posted a violent threat on social media with plans to “shoot up” a synagogue. Later that day, the defendant drove the two men to his house in Pennsylvania to sell them a gun with special enhancements to make the weapon more deadly, as well as 19 rounds of ammunition. The defendant taught the two men how to shoot the gun and how to hide their fingerprints, before driving them back to New York. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force became aware of the plot and arrested the men before the attack.
A judge sentenced a Californian man to more than a year in prison for making anti-LGBTQ+ threats against the dictionary company Merriam-Webster, Inc., and others.
Between October 2 and October 8, 2021, the defendant made a series of threatening messages and comments. Some of the threats were about the word entries for “Girl” and “Woman”, and the defendant sent comments through the website threatening to bomb Merriam-Webster’s offices. These threats led Merriam-Webster to temporarily close its offices in Springfield, Massachusetts and New York City, New York.
The same online user made similar threats to others, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Land O’ Lakes, Hasbro, Inc., IGN Entertainment, the President of the University of North Texas, two professors at Loyola Marymount University, and a New York rabbi.
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-sentenced-threatening-merriam-webster-anti-lgbtq-violence
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-pleads-guilty-threatening-merriam-webster-anti-lgbtq-violence
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-accused-threatening-merriam-webster-anti-lgbtq-violence-indicted
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-arrested-and-charged-making-threats-against-lgbtq-community
A New York man was sentenced to more than a year in prison for conspiring to attack New Yorkers because of their actual or perceived Jewish or Israeli identity.
According to evidence, the defendant conspired with others to commit Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City. On three separate occasions, the defendant assaulted people who were wearing religious clothing or items associated with Judaism or Israel.
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/staten-island-man-sentenced-18-months-prison-conspiracy-commit-antisemitic-hate-crimes
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/antisemitic-assailant-pleads-guilty-conspiracy-commit-hate-crimes
A federal grand jury indicted a New York man in connection with the mass shooting at the Tops grocery store on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, New York.
The indictment alleges that on or about May 14, the man opened fire and shot multiple individuals in and around the Tops grocery store, which resulted in the deaths of 10 Black people, as well as injury to three others.
The defendant faces up to life in prison or the death penalty.
An indictment is a serious accusation. But the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-accused-tops-shooter-federal-hate-crimes-and-firearms-charges
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/accused-tops-shooter-charged-federal-hate-crimes-and-using-firearm-commit-murder
In November 2019, a woman, who is Jewish, began receiving numerous threatening text messages, voicemails and Facebook posts. In several text messages and voicemails, which continued until June 2020, the defendant threatened to murder and seriously injure the woman. He also threatened to blow up her house and car. Some of the threatening text messages contained anti-Semitic references to the Holocaust.
On December 23, 2019, the first day of Hannukah, the defendant sent the woman a message that included the words “Suns about to go down. It would be a shame if your house were used to light the menorah. Or turned in a gas chamber.” On April 8, 2020, the first day of Passover, he wrote “I’m going to kill you. You better be gone because if you’re in [the victim’s housing community] Easter weekend I’m going to stick you in an oven. Or I’m going to shoot you . . . . I should send you to a concentration camp.”
On June 26, 2020, only a few hours before the defendant was located and arrested by the FBI, the defendant left the victim a voicemail message stating, “The police are not going to help you. The courts are not going to help you. . . . I will kill you.”
The FBI investigation identified several other people who had been similarly threatened and harassed by the defendant.
On April 27, 2021, the defendant pled guilty to one count of interference with the right to fair housing, a hate crime, and one count of sending threatening communications. He was sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment, and additional punishment.
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/new-york-man-sentenced-3-years-federal-prison-hate-crime-offenses
A New York man was arrested and charged with setting fire to a yeshiva (a Jewish school) and synagogue on May 19, 2021.
He was captured on surveillance video piling and igniting garbage bags next to a Brooklyn building that housed a yeshiva and a synagogue. Hours later, he was captured on surveillance video again, this time repeatedly punching a man wearing traditional Hasidic garb. There was no interaction between the defendant and the victim prior to the assault.
The charge in the complaint is an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, and a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment.
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/brooklyn-man-arrested-arson-yeshiva-and-synagogue
A New York Man has been charged by federal criminal complaint with making anti-Semitic death threats to a resident of Stratford, Connecticut.
On December 23, 2019, the first day of Hanukkah, the man began sending the victim, who is Jewish, threatening text messages. In several messages, he threatened to murder or seriously injure the victim. He also threatened to blow up the victim’s house and car. Some of the threatening text messages contained anti-Semitic references to the Holocaust.
The charges, which include a hate crime, carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/new-york-man-arrested-hate-crime
A federal grand jury has indicted a New York man with federal hate crimes including willfully causing bodily injury to five victims because of the victims’ religion and for obstructing the free exercise of religion by attempting to kill during Hanukkah observances at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York.
The indictment alleges that on December 28, 2019, the subject was armed with an 18-inch machete and entered a rabbi’s home—adjacent to the rabbi’s synagogue—where dozens had gathered for Hanukkah. There he slashed and stabbed several of the assembled congregants. At least five victims were hospitalized with severe injuries. It is alleged that he targeted and attacked the congregants because of their religion.
Following the attack, he was stopped by members of the New York City Police Department. In the vehicle they saw a machete that appeared to have traces of dried blood on it. After securing warrants, law enforcement searched the subject’s residence and cellphone. The residence contained handwritten journals with several pages of anti-Semitic references, including references to “Adolf Hitler” and “Nazi Culture.” The cellphone contained internet searches for terms such as “Zionist Temples in Staten Island and New Jersey,” “why did Hitler hate the Jews,” and “prominent companies founded by Jews in America.” Also found was a webpage visit on the day of the attack to an article titled, “New York Increases Police Presence in Jewish Neighborhoods After Anti-Semitic Attacks. Here’s What to Know.”
Each count carries a maximum prison term of life.
Press Release:https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/orange-county-man-charged-additional-federal-hate-crimes-december-28-2019-machete-attack
News
March 13, 2025
February 4, 2025
New York Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime for Threatening Jewish Synagogue in Albany
November 15, 2024
South Carolina Man Arrested for Hate-Based Threats to Kill News Reporter and Her Family
August 12, 2024
Former Cornell Student Sentenced for Posting Online Threats Against Jewish Students on Campus
July 16, 2024
Georgian National Charged with Soliciting Hate Crimes and a Mass Casualty Attack in New York City
May 23, 2024
Justice Department Announces Achievements in Police Reform in Suffolk County, New York
April 19, 2024
April 10, 2024
Former Cornell Student Pleads Guilty to Posting Online Threats Against Jewish Students on Campus
March 14, 2024
March 7, 2024
February 6, 2024
New York Man Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Conspiracy to Transport a Firearm Interstate
November 27, 2023
September 27, 2023
March 3, 2023
New York Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Antisemitic Hate Crimes
November 22, 2022
Antisemitic Assailant Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Hate Crimes
September 29, 2022
August 4, 2022
New York Man Accused of Using Twitter to Threaten to Kill Blacks at Buffalo Grocery Stores
August 3, 2022
July 14, 2022
June 15, 2022
Accused Tops Shooter Charged with Federal Hate Crimes and Using a Firearm to Commit Murder
June 15, 2022
May 16, 2022
Statement on the FBI Response to the Shooting in Buffalo, New York
May 14, 2022
Justice Department Statement on the Mass Shooting in Buffalo, New York
February 23, 2022
New York Man Pleads Guilty to Mailing Threatening Letters to LGBTQ+ Affiliated Individuals
August 25, 2021
New York Man Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Prison for Hate Crime Offenses
July 14, 2021
NYPD and FBI New York Fight Asian Hate with New Joint Public Awareness Campaign
May 22, 2021
New York Man Arrested for Arson of Yeshiva and Synagogue
April 28, 2021
New York Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crime Offenses
March 29, 2021
June 30, 2020
New York Man Arrested for Hate Crime
February 26, 2020
Brooklyn Man Arrested For Making Race-Based Threats Of Violence
January 28, 2020
Brooklyn Woman Charged with Federal Hate Crimes for Anti-Semitic Attacks During Hanukkah
January 9, 2020
December 30, 2019
July 23, 2019
Iowa Man Charged With Making Threats To Manhattan-Based Jewish Organization
April 11, 2019
Bronx Man Convicted Of Defacing African Burial Ground National Monument With Threatening Racial Slur
December 6, 2018
November 20, 2018
Bronx Man Charged With Defacing African Burial Ground National Monument With Threatening Racial Slur
April 7, 2017
Click here to read more DOJ news related to hate crimes.
Resources
The resources below include specific examples, experiences, or information related to New York.
Go to the Resources page to access all resources.
Publication | Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) | Law Enforcement
Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness – A Guide for Law Enforcement
DOJ Offices
![]()
| Albany New York | Buffalo |
![]()
| Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) Northern District of New York (Albany) Southern District of New York (New York City) Western District of New York (Buffalo) |
![]()
| Northeastern Regional Office 26 Federal Plaza Suite 36-118 New York, NY 10278 T: 212.264.0700 askcrs@usdoj.gov |