Austin came in fourth among Texas cities in number of hate crimes reported in 2006, according to a just-released FBI compilation that canvassed agencies representing 85% of the nation’s population. Documented are 7,722 criminal incidents involving 9,080 offenses resulting from bias against race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental disability. Of 5,449 “crimes against persons,” intimidation accounted for 46% of hate crimes, simple assault 32%, and aggravated assault 21.6%. Three murders and six rapes are reported. “Crimes against property,” mostly vandalism, account for 3,593 offenses.
The report lists offenders as 58.6% white, 20.6% black, 12.9% race unknown, and the rest as other races. As a caveat, the report discourages “data users,” like media and tourism agencies, from relying on numbers alone: “Until data users examine all the variables that affect crime … they can make no meaningful comparisons.”
Motives for Reported Hate Crimes in Texas Cities
| Race | Sexual Orientation | Ethnicity | Religion | Disability | |
| Dallas | 13 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 |
| San Antonio | 13 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Houston | 8 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Austin | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
FBI hate crimes report: www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2006/index.html
This article appears in November 30 • 2007.