Aug. 20--A man walked up to a couple who were out shopping and asked if they were lesbians. When they said yes, he beat them.
Another man attacked an elderly Vietnamese American woman as she stepped off a bus. He shouted racial slurs, kicked her in the chest and knocked her to the ground.
Those were two of the 40 reported hate crime incidents in Orange County in 2014, according to a report released Thursday, down from 48 such reports in 2013.
The Orange County Human Relations Commission said that African Americans, who make up nearly 2% of the county's more than 3.2 million residents, were the target of 11 hate crimes last year, the same total as the previous year. Since the commission began its accounting in 1991, blacks have been the most victimized group each year.
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"It's sad and unacceptable that some people are picked on because of the color of their skin. Folks want to be defined as that neighbor you say hello to at the market, rather than that person who is black or Jewish," said Rusty Kennedy, who heads the commission.
Crimes against lesbians and gays rose from seven in 2013 to eight in 2014. Other targets included Jews, Asians, Latinos and members of the Muslim, Arab and Middle Eastern communities.
While the number of hate crimes reported in Orange County has dropped from a high of nearly 100 a decade ago, Kennedy said, he is troubled that acts of violence directed at individuals are on the rise -- compared to property crimes such as vandalism.
"The importance of doing this work is to push to make sure this is not a part of our future," he said. "Everyone deserves to be safe."
