The Maryland States Attorney Anthony Brown acting on a report that hate crimes were up in Maryland in 2022, has opened the State's online portal for reporting hate crimes and bias incidents. Reports can be made of hate crimes and bias incidents via anonymous reports. The crimes and incidents have to be reported to Police first.
The portal contains information to help citizens identify hate crimes and victim resources. The portal is nohomeforhate.md.gov .
According to the website, a hate crime is defined;
In Maryland, a hate crime is:
A crime, or threat to commit a crime, motivated by another person or group’s perceived personal characteristic or group membership, including race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, national origin, or homelessness.
Examples include threatening to attack a place of worship or assaulting or injuring someone because of their perceived identity.
Damaging or destroying, attempting to damage or destroy, and threatening to damage or destroy religious property.
Obstructing others from exercising their religious beliefs by force or threat of force.
Damaging, burning, destroying – or attempting or threatening to damage, burn or destroy – the real or personal property of a person or group because of that person’s or group’s perceived characteristic or membership. This includes real or personal property connected to a building that is publicly or privately owned, such as a cemetery, library, meeting hall, recreation center, or school.
Identities protected under Maryland hate crime laws include race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, national origin, and homelessness.
A racial bias incident;
A hate/bias incident is any act or expression of hostility or aggression, motivated by bias against a protected class but does not constitute a crime under State or federal law. Examples include using slurs, distributing hateful literature in public spaces, or displaying hate material on one’s own property.
There is a video on the site that helps citizens use the portal.
"If you are the victim or a witness to a hate bias incident or hate crime in Maryland, call 911," Attorney General Brown said.
Hate crime and bias incident reports have increased from 388 reports in 2021 to 465 reports in 2022.
