Study finds hate crimes in Houston almost up 30% over past year as other cities also see increases

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A recent report from California State University at San Bernardino's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found hate crimes are on the rise across the country from 2021 to 2022.

They found a 22% increase overall in reports of such crimes among America's 10 largest cities.

The study showed the city of Houston saw a 26.5% rise in such reported crimes during that time period.

They received their Houston data from the Hate Crime Report section of the Texas Department of Public Safety's website, which gets its data from the Houston Police Department.

The site said there were 65 reported hate crimes in Houston in 2022, compared to 49 in 2021. That includes an increase in reported crimes against African Americans (15 in 2021 to 17 in 2022), Hispanics (8 to 13), and the transgender community (2 to 7).

There were some decreases, such as in the gay community, where instances fell from 11 to six.

Rania Mankarious, the CEO of Crime Stoppers of Houston, offered this insight as it relates to the overall state of hate crimes in Houston and beyond.

"The numbers are relatively low - Houston is a very welcoming city, but we also have no tolerance for this kind of activity," she said.

Mankarious said most instances of hate crimes in Houston manifest themselves as aggravated assaults.

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