BuzzFeedNews: “The number of violent hate crimes reported in the United States last year was the highest in 16 years, according to the FBI — but advocacy groups warned that the actual figure is much higher than the official count reported Tuesday. The Department of Justice defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property, motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” Data released Tuesday by the FBI shows that although the total number of reported hate crimes in the United States decreased from 2017 to 2018, the number of offenses against people increased by 12%. Of the 7,120 hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2018, 4,571 were crimes against persons (such as assault, rape, and murder). Most of the hate crimes — about 60% — were motivated by race, ethnicity, or ancestry bias. The other motivations included religion (19%), sexual orientation (17%), gender identity (2%), disability (2%), and gender (1%)…”