Attorney General Releases Interim Report on Anti-Arab Hate Crimes

(SACRAMENTO) – Attorney General Bill Lockyer today reported more than 230 anti-Arab hate crimes or incidents are under investigation by local law enforcement in six major California cities, slightly more than 10 a day since last month's terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "Given this snapshot, encouraging tolerance and understanding remains as important as ever to prevent assaults against innocent Californians who are or appear to be of Middle Eastern descent," Lockyer said. "This information is central to developing effective measures to combat these despicable acts." Since the September 11 national tragedy, there have been dozens of reports of harassment of Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, Afghan Americans, Sikhs, South Asians and others mistaken for Arabs or Muslims. These are preliminary numbers reported by the following jurisdictions:

Agency	September 11-18	September 19-30	Total
Los Angeles Police Department	29	50	79
Los Angeles Sheriff's Department	25	3	28
San Francisco Police Department	30	13	43
San Jose Police Department	7	34	41
San Diego Police Department	14	26	40
Sacramento Sheriff's Department	2	3	5
Total	107	129	236

"We will continue to monitor hate crimes being reported," Lockyer said. "The Department of Justice is prepared to respond to requests for assistance from local law enforcement agencies."