Remarks of Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore at Department of Justice’s Law Enforcement Roundtable on Improving the Identification and Reporting of Hate Crimes

Remarks As Prepared For Delivery

Good morning.  I am John Gore, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.  Today our hearts, minds, thoughts, and prayers are with all of the victims, families, law enforcement officers, and all others affected by Saturday’s senseless and tragic hate crime attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.  Please join me in observing a moment of silence for all of the victims who were killed or injured in this horrific episode. 

Today we stand with the entire Jewish community across the country, whose singular historical and cultural contribution weaves a vibrant and vital thread in the fabric of America.  Today we stand with our brave colleagues in law enforcement, some of whom were injured responding to the attack.  And today we stand with the great American city of Pittsburgh, whose grit and determination inspire us all.

As Attorney General Sessions announced on Saturday, within hours of the attack, the Department of Justice filed hate crime and other charges against the attacker, including charges that potentially carry the death penalty.  Those charges send the clear and unequivocal message that the United States will not tolerate hate crimes.  Those charges send the clear and unequivocal message that in the fight against hate crimes, the Department of Justice stands with the American people.  And those charges send the clear and unequivocal message that a hate crime against any individual or group is a crime against us all. 

Hate crimes come in many varieties, from mass murder to assault to physical threats, but all hate crimes have one thing in common: hate crimes are perpetrated by criminals to terrorize victims, families, and entire communities with violence and fear.  Hate crimes of any kind strike at our most basic American values.  Targeting people because of who they are, what they believe, where they worship, who they love, or whether they have a disability targets the bedrock principles on which our nation was founded.

Our message today is simple: eradicating the scourge of hate crimes from our communities and our country is, and will remain, one of the top priorities of the Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division—and our commitment to that goal will never falter. 

We recognize that we cannot achieve this goal without the continuing collaboration of our outstanding state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners.  I thank you for being here today.  I especially want to thank Chief March for serving as our moderator today and tomorrow.  Our goal is to facilitate a robust discussion where we all learn from each other how to better identify and report hate crimes.  And we here at the Department of Justice can take what we learn from you and share it with other law enforcement agencies across the country. 

In recent weeks you may have read about two other hate crimes prosecutions in which the Civil Rights Division was involved.  The first was the prosecution and conviction of the murderers of a gender-fluid teenager in Iowa named Kedarie Johnson.  The second was the life sentencing of a Kansas man who shot two Indian men because of their race, killing one of them, and shot another man who came to their aid.

In both of these successful cases, federal agents and prosecutors worked hand in hand with state and local law enforcement.  In fact, the Kedarie Johnson case was prosecuted in state court with the assistance of an experienced Department of Justice hate crimes prosecutor.  These two cases exemplify the absolutely critical role that state, local and tribal law enforcement plays in numerous prosecutions that the Department pursues under the federal hate crimes statutes.

More importantly, the vast majority of hate crimes prosecutions are conducted by state authorities in state court.  But whether they are prosecuted in state court or in federal court, hate crimes most often can be first identified by state and local law enforcement officers.  That is because you are the front line of our law enforcement nationally, so you encounter criminal conduct—and the evidence—first.

In our prior meetings and seminars, law enforcement has identified two significant barriers to effectively combatting hate crimes: under-identification and underreporting.  These barriers are borne out by the evidence: according to the National Crime Victimization Survey, more than half of all victims of hate crimes do not report them.  About a quarter (23%) of victims who did not report the hate crime believed that police would not want to be bothered or to get involved, would be inefficient or ineffective, or would cause trouble for the victim.

Effectively identifying and reporting hate crimes wherever they occur sends the strong message that the police take these crimes seriously and have systems in place to combat them.  Moreover, collecting complete and accurate data will allow targeting of resources toward preventing and solving hate crimes.

The overarching goal of this roundtable is action - to generate ideas for actionable steps, both for you locally and for the greater law enforcement community, including the federal government.  As law enforcement, we all know that we work best when we collaborate at the local, state, tribal, and federal levels.  Today is an important step in our coordinated, concerted, and collective effort to improve the identification and reporting of hate crimes whenever and wherever they occur.  Together we can rid our communities and our country of the awful scourge of hate crime.  Thank you.