FBI Report Show Hate Crimes Rose In Austin

AUSTIN, TX — Newly released hate crime statistics from the FBI on Monday show the number of hate crimes in Austin rose last year.

According to the annual report, 19 hate crimes occurred in Austin last year — an increase from 13 such crimes reported in 2015. Hate crimes are defined as criminal incidents motivated by bias toward a victim's ancestry, disability, ethnicity, gender/gender identity or social orientation.

Among the local 19 hate crime incidents reported last year, 10 were motivated by racial ancestry or ethnicity, six by sexual orientation, two based on religion and one on gender identity.

Across Texas, hate crimes were down from last year. A total of 178 hate crimes were logged in 2016, 13 less than the 191 reported the prior year, according to the report. But the 2016 numbers were higher than those for 2014 and 2013, when 145 and 132 such incidents were reported.

Related story: FBI Releases Texas Hate Crime Statistics For 2016

Nationwide, 6,121 hate crimes were recorded last year — 3,489 of those motivated by race or ethnicity. Of those, 1,729 were anti-black hate crimes with another 344 anti-Latino. A total of 1,273 hate crimes were motivated with religion, with Jewish victims taking the brunt with 684 cases reported against members of the religion.

To read the full FBI report, click here.

Access local statistics by clicking on the "location type" key at the top below the banner and visit Table 13.

>>> Photo via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images