WASHINGTON — Hate crimes directed against a person’s religion decreased in 2007, according to the FBI’s 2007 Hate Crime Statistics. In 2006, the FBI reported 1,597 hate crimes motivated by a religious bias.
That figure dropped to 1,477 in 2007, according to the report. Of the religiously based hate crimes, attacks against Jews rose from 64 percent in 2006 to 68 percent in 2007. Anti-Muslim hate crimes, meanwhile, decreased from 12 percent in 2006 to between 8 and 9 percent in 2007.
Hate crimes against Catholics accounted for 4 percent of the reported hate crimes motivated by religious biases — down from 5 percent in 2006. Four percent of the hate crimes were motivated by anti-Protestant biases and 9 percent were against other religions.
Of the reported hate crimes motivated by religious bias, 18 percent occurred in churches, synagogues or temples; 26 percent occurred in or near residences or homes and 12 percent occurred in schools or colleges.
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