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Less Hate Crimes Overall, But Increase in Anti-Jewish Graffiti
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."