Hate Groups: Florida No. 2 in the Nation

In the wake of Wednesday night’s massacre at a Charleston, S.C., church, authorities are labeling the deaths of nine people a “hate crime.”

In that incident, a white man walked into an African-American church, spent about an hour in the prayer meeting and then opened fire, CNN is reporting.

As the details in that tragedy begin to reveal themselves, Florida, too, is grappling with the reality of hate crimes though the numbers of incidents are on the decline.

The number of hate crimes in Florida dropped by 27 percent in 2013, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office, but the Southern Poverty Law Center says the state is number two in the nation for the number of active hate groups operating within its borders.

The number of hate crimes in 2013 within the Sunshine State was logged at 124, down from 170 in 2012. Those numbers come from the 2013 Hate Crimes in Florida Report, which was released by Bondi’s office in December 2014, representing the most recent data available. Florida’s decline in recorded hate crimes coincides with a national decline reported by the FBI in its Hate Crime Statistics report released in December 2014.

According to the FBI, a total of 5,928 hate crimes were reported nationally in 2013, impacting 7,242 victims. The numbers were down from 2012’s 6,573 incidents.

The FBI defines hate crimes as “a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias,” according to its website. “For the purpose of collecting statistics, Congress has defined a hate crime as a ‘criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.’”

And, while the numbers of hate crimes have declined slightly within the Sunshine State and on the national front, hate groups remain active in all 50 states, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports. Its “Hate Map” logs the number of groups by state with California leading the nation at 57 and Florida coming in a close second at 50. The top five is rounded out by New York with 44, New Jersey, 40, and Pennsylvania, 38.

Florida’s active hate groups, according to SPLC, include Ku Klux Klan, Nation of Islam and New Black Panther Party chapters, among others. For a complete list, check out the center’s Hate Map.

Individuals who have information about hate crimes are asked to contact these national hotlines:

Hate Crime National Hotline: 206-350-4283

Hate Crimes Hotline at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: 1-800-552-6843.

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