I'm planning a trip in March to California to stay with some of my friends in Van Nuys, California, but now I hear of this news, an incident just blocks away from my friends' home. Some people's kids.
An anti-gay hate crime in Van Nuys has sparked an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday.
Authorities said a burglary was reported in the 7400 block of Vista Del Monte Avenue at about 7 p.m.
Suspects ransacked the home and spray painted anti-gay slurs throughout the house, according to LAPD. They also dumped gallons of paint and bleach throughout the house.
"We found that there was anti-gay graffiti that had been spray painted inside the residence," Sgt. Jerald Case with the LAPD confirmed to Eyewitness News.
Case said the victims were not home during the crime. Neighbors say the owners have only lived in the home about a year and had just finished remodeling the entire house. Authorities stated there was significant damage to the home and some items were also stolen.
"Anything that's a sensitive nature like this we take it very seriously," Case said.
Detectives were looking to see if there was any surveillance video in the area that could help them identify the suspects. – abc7.com
The most recent year where we have data on hate crimes shows that they rose sharply in 2015, according to a report issued in September by the county’s Commission on Human Relations. There were 483 hate crimes were reported, making it a 24% increase from 2014, with 120 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation. This number represents an 11% increase from the previous year.
Are all hate crimes reported?
Do you think some do not report anti-gay hate crimes in fear of being outed?
h/t: abc7.com, latimes.com