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Hate crimes rose in Utah last year according to new FBI statistics. But nationally, hate crimes have decreased, although crimes targeting people because of their sexual orientation are up.
At first glance the numbers here in Utah are astonishing. In 2007, 20 more hate crimes were reported to the FBI than in 2006. There were 35 hate crimes in Utah in 2006. Last year, it went up to 55.
The FBI says it's definitely a cause for concern. FBI Special Agent Kenneth Porter said, "It's certainly something we need to look at to try to determine if it's just a statistical anomaly, or if there really is some sort of a trend occurring, making hate crimes more prevalent here in Utah."
The FBI says the jump may be due to more law enforcement agencies reporting the numbers. Twenty-one agencies reported in 2006 as opposed to 28 in 2007.
Nationally, more than 7,600 cases were reported last year; that's down 1 percent from '06.
The FBI reported decreases in race and religion crimes, but a 6 percent increase in sexual-orientation crimes.
A month ago, hate crime victim Carlos Lopez told KSL, "He had me on the floor, hitting me like that, and if it wasn't some girls who took him away, he probably would have killed me there."
He said a group of people asked him if he was gay; then when he didn't answer, he was beaten.
Valerie Larabee, with the Utah Pride Center, said, "The gay community is trying to achieve equality, and that can get some people upset. When people don't know how to deal with what's going on ... sometimes they take it out on someone else."
Larabee thought there might be even more hate crimes happening, but people weren't reporting.
In Utah, the FBI reported nine crimes motivated by an anti-gay bias.
Larabee said she often got calls from victims, but they don't want to report it. "Because they haven't come out to their friends and family, and they don't want to lose everything in their surroundings because they're outed," Larabee said.
One thing Larabee and the FBI agreed on: These alarming Utah numbers at least get the dialogue started about what can be done.
Nationally, more than a third of all hate crimes are vandalism. Intimidation is the second-most common, followed by assault.
E-mail: ngonzales @ksl.com