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King County prosecutors say pandemic may be one cause of uptick in hate crime cases

Hate crimes reported to the FBI rose last year to levels not seen in more than a decade. Washington state is seeing a similar trend and deputy prosecutors in King County are handling more hate crime cases. The pandemic might be an indirect cause.
The Associated Press
Hate crimes reported to the FBI rose last year to levels not seen in more than a decade. Washington state is seeing a similar trend and deputy prosecutors in King County are handling more hate crime cases. The pandemic might be an indirect cause.

King County prosecutors say the number of hate crime cases they are overseeing is on the rise — and the pandemic might be partly to blame.

In 2018, prosecutors handled 30 hate crime cases. In 2019, the number was 38. Today, they are overseeing 51 cases, and the year isn’t over yet.

The victims are primarily Black people and gay men. Many of the people accused of committing these crimes have mental health and substance abuse issues that are going untreated because of the pandemic.

“And so our goal is, as is with most of the crimes that are committed in King County, is to make sure that this person never committed this crime again. And so we try to get the court to order something that is appropriate for what that person's needs are, whether that's drug or alcohol treatment or mental health treatment,” said David Bannick, a deputy prosecuting attorney with King County.

If the crime is violent or the person is a repeat offender, then jail time is recommended.

Washington state has one of the highest hate crime reporting rates in the United States. A report from the FBI says 542 hate crimes were reported in Washington last year. Most were from the Seattle area.  This figure stands in stark contrast to the six hate crimes reported in all of Mississippi last year.

In Washington, are more hate crimes happening, or are more just being reported? Prosecutors say the answer is both. While they believe the numbers are going up, they also believe the high number in Washington, compared to a state like Mississippi, reflects the fact that more people here feel safe to report hate crimes, and the fact that the Seattle Police Department makes it a priority to investigate these cases.

King County prosecutors say another standout for 2020 is that this is the first time they’ve ever dealt with hate crime cases in which Asian-Americans are targeted by people who are afraid of contracting a virus.

Jennifer Wing is a former KNKX reporter and producer who worked on the show Sound Effect and Transmission podcast.