Response of Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.)

“Hate crimes are an issue in our state. According to FBI reported data, Arizona has one of the highest rates of hate crimes in the country. Not even including hateful rhetoric, our state has seen extreme acts of violence motivated by a bias against race, religion, sexual orientation, gender etc. Just last month, a teenager was killed for playing rap music because the attacker felt threatened by minorities ‘who listen to similar music.’ In response to growing rates of hate crimes, the Tucson Police Department revived a ‘SAFE PLACE’ program to increase victim protections, largely for our LGBTQ community, who have been the subject to hateful crimes and discrimination. And in hearing from my community, it is clear that the El Paso shooting spotlights a long history and escalating fear of anti-Latino violence. It is a growing issue in Arizona and it must be addressed.” “In addition to Congress, state legislatures around the nation need to start implementing laws that enact specific criminal charges to hate crimes. We need to enhance the sentencing punishments in all discriminatory violent attacks. Not only do we need to change the consequences of these bias attacks, we need to work harder at preventing them. The rhetoric from our elected leaders matters, the examples parents set for their children matters, and the teaching of inclusion and tolerance in schools makes a difference.”