Here’s what FBI report shows on Whatcom hate crime numbers
An FBI report released this week contains data on U.S. hate crimes, including those in Whatcom County.
A total of 12 hate crimes were reported in Whatcom County in 2021, down from 20 in 2020.
That report, issued Monday, Dec. 12, included incidents from 2021 that were reported to the FBI by Bellingham Police, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, Western Washington University Police, Lummi Nation and Nooksack tribal police, and police in Blaine, Everson, Ferndale, Lynden and Sumas.
The annual report on hate crimes drew criticism from civil rights and social justice groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center this week because it failed to include data from several major U.S. cities, including New York and Los Angeles.
But the FBI did redesign its crime statistics website, making data easier to obtain.
Whatcom County agencies did not report bias incidents, which often don’t meet the legal standard for a hate crime.
Malicious harassment is what a hate crime is called in Washington state, and it must include an assault or vandalism, or cause reasonable fear in the victim.
Only about 30% of racial incidents are reported to police, said Hassan Naveed, who is executive director of the New York City Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, during a discussion of the FBI report on the American Jewish Committee’s podcast Thursday, Dec. 15.
The 2021 crimes included:
▪ Bellingham reported nine incidents, including six with racial motivation, one with religious overtones and two that involved sexual orientation.
That overall figure was down from 14 incidents that Bellingham Police reported to the FBI in 2020.
One incident was anti-white and another was anti-Protestant, according to the data.
Three of the six racially motivated incidents in 2021 were directed at people of Asian heritage, who have faced increasing harassment in recent years.
Data from 2022 wasn’t immediately available from Bellingham Police.
But The Bellingham Herald has reported increasing threats against Bellingham Public Schools employees, the Wink Wink sex shop and its owner Jenn Mason over their support for LGBTQIA+ students.
Recent protests outside Wink Wink included white supremacists and a man armed with a semiautomatic rifle.
In addition, vandals smashed windows at the store’s Commercial Street location, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
▪ Whatcom County reported a single hate crime in 2021, an incident that was listed as anti-Hispanic or Latino.
A total of four hate crimes were reported by the Sheriff’s Office in 2020.
Members of the Whatcom County Council voted 4-3 to form a Racial Equity Commission earlier this year, and both the Bellingham City Council and the Whatcom County Council have said that racism is a public health crisis.
▪ Western Washington University reported two hate crimes in 2021, both based on religion.
WWU also reported two incidents in 2020.
One victim at WWU was of the Sikh faith and the other was Jewish, according to the report.
WWU has seen several racial bias incidents this fall, including those directed at Jews, Iranian Muslims and Blacks, The Herald has reported.
▪ Lynden Police reported a single hate crime in 2021, an assault where gender identity was the motive.
▪ Police in Blaine, Everson, Ferndale and Sumas reported no hate crimes that met FBI guidelines in 2021.
▪ Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribal Police reported no hate crimes in 2021.
