Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA - National Coalition ...

HATE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH ON MAIN STREET USA2008Over the past ten years, hundreds of homeless people have been attacked <strong>and</strong> killed. While this reportprovides alarming numbers, the fact remains that countless attacks go undocumented each year.Homeless individuals are treated so poorly by society that their attacks are often forgotten orunreported. Knowing some cases are missing, the attacks that are accounted for over the past ten yearsare still shocking:• 880 acts of violence have been committed against homeless individuals• The attacks have happened in 46 states, Puerto Rico <strong>and</strong> Washington, DC• 244 homeless individuals lost their lives in the brutal attacksThe victims of these attacks have faced injustices greater than the scars <strong>and</strong> pain they endure; they havehad to cope with humiliation, tattered self-esteem, <strong>and</strong> battered respect for themselves as humans.In 2008, violent acts against the homeless leave much room for improvement:• 106 homeless persons were victims of violent attacks• 27 of those 106 persons were killed as a result of those attacksThe perpetrators of these attacks have shown an overwhelming trend to be young men <strong>and</strong> teen agedboys. Over the past ten years, the majority of attacks against the homeless have been committed byteenage boys <strong>and</strong> youth as young as ten years old. In 2008:• 43% of attacks against homeless people were committed by teens aged 13-19• 73% of the accused/convicted attackers were ages 25 <strong>and</strong> youngerSome of the accused/convicted have been quoted as saying: “It was just a vagrant”, “it was fun”, orthey did it because they “could”. The motives to all attacks are not all clear, but it is obvious that manyattacks were committed because the victim was homeless or because the homeless are more vulnerablethan housed individuals. In addition, the perpetrators’ characteristics, motive, <strong>and</strong> weaponry are verysimilar to perpetrators who commit hate crimes against all other hate crime victim groups. Whether ornot the crime was committed out of bias or hatred for the homeless, the fact remains that our homelessneighbors fall victim to an alarming number of attacks each year.These brutal attacks happened all across the United States; some states accumulated far more attacksthan others:• Florida had the most attacks committed- 30• California also had a high number of attacks- 22With this growing problem becoming more <strong>and</strong> more apparent in communities around the country,some states, cities, <strong>and</strong> advocacy groups are doing something positive to address the issue.10