ADL Concerned About Recent Spate of Hate Crimes in the District

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed deep concern over recent reports of multiple alleged attacks against lesbian and transgendered individuals in the District.  In the past several weeks, there have been reports of two shootings of transgendered women and a verbal and physical assault against a group of five lesbians.  The shootings, one of them fatal, occurred on July 20 and July 31, one block away from one another in Northeast, DC.  The shootings reportedly shared many similarities, and prompted the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to characterize them as "a potential emerging pattern".  The third alleged attack occurred outside the Columbia Heights Metro Station on July 30 and reports indicate that three men shouted homophobic slurs and physically attacked a group of five women.

ADL commended Chief Cathy Lanier for opening an investigation into the handling of the alleged crimes by the responding officers. Hate crimes demand full and vigorous investigation, and failure to do so undermines the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

"We are particularly concerned that these attacks occurred within such a short time frame and that the GLBT community has been so clearly targeted," said Sophie Dornstreich, the ADL Associate Regional Director in Washington, DC.  "Perpetrators of hate crimes send a message to their victims, and everyone else who shares the victim's characteristics, that they are not welcome or safe," she continued. "Each and every hate crime deserves priority attention because it impacts the entire community. The Anti-Defamation League wants those in the GLBT community to know that we stand with them in the fight against these crimes."

Hate crime statues have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia. Many of those laws are based on a model statue crafted by the ADL, which has long been in the forefront of national and state efforts to deter and counter act hate-motivated criminal activity.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

SOURCE Anti-Defamation League