Just as their case was headed to trial, both defendants accused of attacking two gay men outside the Gay and Lesbian Center of Greater Long Beach on Halloween opted to enter guilty pleas and received prison sentences. more ›

A 15-year-old Latino boy suffered head wounds and lost several teeth in an alleged hate crime attack as he walked home from school two weeks ago. The vicious encounter happened March 14 around 4pm near Cactus Middle School in Palmdale. The teen was approached by a group of up to 10 male black juveniles who challenged him to a fight more ›

A suspected gang member who allegedly pointed a shotgun and directed racial epithets at three black people in Glassell Park has been charged for his crimes. more ›

A woman severely beaten in her El Cajon home this week died from her injuries yesterday, and now police are investigating whether the act constituted a hate crime. The woman Shaima Alawadi, 32, was Iraqi but she has been living here since 1993, and she was the mother of five, according to San Diego's KUSI. more ›

Police are investigating an alleged hate crime that occurred early Sunday morning in Hollywood. A man was approached by three male aggressors around 1:30am near the intersection of Cahuenga Boulevard and Yucca Street. One of the assailants asked the man if he was gay, and when he said he was, the trio attacked him. more ›

Brandon McInerney, now 17-years-old, pulled a gun from his backpack in a computer lab at E.O. Green Junior High School on February 12, 2008 and shot 15-year-old Larry King in the back of the head twice. King died from his wounds. McInerney was 14-years-old at the time of the murder, which occurred after days of conflict between the two teens. more ›

Brandon McInerney, the Oxnard teenager who shot a gay classmate point blank in the back of the head, has accepted a plea deal that will require him to serve 21 years in jail, reports KTLA. McInerney, now 17, plead guilty to second-degree murder today. more ›

The manager of a popular gay bar was reportedly attacked on his way home at about 2:30 a.m. today, reports West Hollywood Confidential. The man, whose name and place of employ haven't been released (WeHo Confidential only says that the bar is "not There Lounge"), was walking alone when he says he was approached by two men driving an old Honda Accord. more ›

Authorities in Long Beach are classifying a "brutal attack" on two gay men as hate crimes, and today announced the arrest of two suspects, reports the Press-Telegram. The attack took place Monday night in the vicinity of The Gay and Lesbian Center of Greater Long Beach. more ›

A man has been arrested after he allegedly spit in the face of a Hispanic woman, then tried to run her down with his bike. The OC Register reports that 31-year-old Jonathan Michael Schmidt, who's white, rode his bike up beside his 36-year-old victim's car in Huntington Beach as they pulled up to a stop sign at 1:40 p.m. on Monday. more ›

Something is rotten in the state of Orange County, because as hate crimes and incidents overall are going down, they are on the rise against blacks and Muslims. According to a report released today by the Orange County Human Relations Commission, 56 hate crimes took place last year, and nearly a third of them targeted blacks. more ›

Police in Long Beach are investigating a string of attacks targeting gay men that have taken place over the past 10 days. There have been three assaults, which the Long Beach Police Department say are unrelated, reports the Press-Telegram. Two of the three happened in the Broadway Corridor, a section of the city that is known for being particularly "gay-friendly." Those incidents are considered hate crimes. more ›

Opening statements in the first-degree murder trial of Brandon McInerney begin Tuesday in Los Angeles for a Southern California accused of "gunning down a gay classmate" in front of other students at a Ventura County middle school in 2008, according to the Associated Press. more ›

Authorities in Lancaster are investigating several pieces of graffiti that "advocated the killing of gay people," according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies responded to a call regarding graffiti, which was put up in a business area, on the 44200 block of 10th Street West. The perpetrators are not known, and an investigation is under way. more ›

Police have reportedly launched a hate crime investigation after several cyclists were assaulted as they wheeled from Silver Lake to Echo Park during Saturday’s World Naked Bike Ride, according to The Eastsider LA. Riders were punched by drivers, subjected to anti-gay slurs, and at least two of suffered minor injuries "during what police describe as an unprovoked attack." more ›

Large amounts of vandalism including "swastikas and depictions of Adolf Hitler," were found by school maintenance workers around 9:00 a.m. Saturday at Calabasas High School, reports the L.A. Times. The hate graffiti reportedly also "included attacks on blacks and Latinos." more ›

A man has been sentenced to die for the 2006 shooting of 14-year-old Cheryl Green, which officials say was a hate crime. Jonathan Fajardo, now 22, is affiliated with the 204th Street gang. On the day of the shooting, he and other gang members of Latino descent were allegedly out to kill anyone who was black, reports KABC. Fajardo opened fire on a group of black people, killing Green. more ›

A Santa Clarita resident who shares a home with several roommates says he was the target of an apparent hate crime. Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Deputies were dispatched on a call of a vehicle fire at the home, according to a release issued by the LASD, and the victim, an African-American male, said he initially heard noises coming from outside the front of the home. In his driveway was "his 2009 Scion fully engulfed in flames." more ›

A total of four men, all Korean, have been arrested over a period of several days, for their involvement in an alleged hate crime that took place at a Korean restaurant in Rowland Heights. Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials say that a 25-year-old Chinese American man was the victim of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon following a violent confrontation outside the eatery on February 6th. more ›

A Fullerton woman is thought to be behind at least nine documented incidents of hateful graffiti on Catholic churches and buildings around the OC, and now she has been arrested, according to the OC Register. 53-year-old Kim Rebar Henry is accused of leaving slurs against Catholics, Asians, Mexicans, and African Americans. One of her alleged messages is the sadly misspelled "Kill CATHLick's" left in "black 12-inch letters on a walkway next to the church parking lot," of Saint Thomas More Catholic Parish in Irvine. more ›

In 2009 there were 580 hate crimes reported in LA County, down from 730 in 2008, according to LA Now, however, "such crimes against Jews spiked almost 50%." One Jewish group points to a series of "relatively minor" vandalism incidents "in which the word 'Jew' or some variance was sprayed onto a number of buildings and trash cans." More than half the reported incidents were focused on race, with African Americans the top target. "Latinos perpetrated 77% of hate crimes against black victims, and blacks were responsible for almost half of such crimes against Latinos." more ›

Authorities in Thousand Oaks are calling swastikas and other "racist graffiti" found in Thousand Oaks yesterday a "hate crime," reports the Ventura County Star. According to Sheriff’s Capt. Frank O’Hanlon, residents in one neighborhood "discovered swastikas and the words “white power” spray painted on several garage doors, cars and electrical transformers," in the area Tuesday morning. A crew was called in to begin erasing the vandals' marks as the investigation was underway. more ›

This photo was apparently taken near Venice Blvd. and Overland Avenue at the West Los Angeles Christian Center. Those are definitely strong words to make you think while driving. more ›

A priest at Santa Monica Catholic Church made an unpleasant discovery just before Easter Sunday services were due to begin last weekend: Their 55-year-old statue of the Virgin Mary had been decapitated. The marble Mary has previously been the target of vandals, when in 2002 her hands and feet were removed by vandals, reports the LA Weekly. Worshippers were "shocked" according to a live report from the Church, where the statue has been draped in plastic and people have left flowers in tribute. Police are treating the beheading as a hate crime because of the significance of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic faith. Santa Monica Catholic Church is where Gov. Arnold Schwarzegger frequently attends services. more ›

• Q: How is the San Fernando Valley like 1950's Mississippi? A:Apart from the wide lots, racism is once again rearing its ugly head. Hate crimes have nearly doubled so far this year from the same period last year with Jews and blacks taking the brunt of the attacks.
• Q: When is it time to say goodbye to your dog? A: How about when you spend $20,000 looking for your lost pooch, which one Encino man has spent the last four years three-weeks in his ongoing search for fido.
• Q: When is it going to become easier to hail a taxi in Downtown L.A.? A: Soon, if a Hail-a-Taxi pilot program, previously approved by the city's Taxicab Commissioners, is implemented.
• Q: How do some people adapt to life after war? A: By winning the Mr. California pageant, which a 21-year-old Iraqi war vet from Seal Beach did recently.
• Q: How will Obama do in California during the general election if (and when) he faces McCain in November? A: If a recent LA Times/KTLA poll is any indication, pretty damn well.
• Q: When are politicians just like us? A: When they also face home foreclosures, as is the case with Long Beach Rep. Laura Richardson. She reportedly lost her Sacramento home in a recent foreclosure auction and has defaulted on properties in Long Beach and San Pedro.

Four Los Angeles area schools went into lockdown yesterday, the one thought to have the most potential danger in Pasadena at Blair International Baccalaureate Magnet School. An early morning report by a student saying someone had a gun prompted a lockdown that lasted throughout the day. Later in the day, police detained one male juvenile for questioning, but no further details have been released. more ›

The Daily Breeze is reporting that police were searching earlier this morning for a possible gunman at California State Dominguez Hills in Carson:

Two students apparently reported around 8:30 a.m. they saw a gunman carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing a green jacket and no shirt, according to news reports. more ›

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