February 6

On this date in 2006 in Ottumwa, Iowa, 17-year-old Matthew Lasman is alleged to have hung a dead opossum and a racially inflammatory note attached to it in a bathroom at Ottumwa High School. Lasman was arrested two days later, and Ottumwa Police Chief Jim Clark said the note left with the opossum qualified as a hate crime.

In Hudson, Florida, on this date in 2008, Paul F. Van-Riper, 48, a white man, was alleged to have encouraged his stepson to fight a black boy from his Duke Drive backyard while using a racial slur. The following day he was arrested and charged with a hate crime and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

In the Bridgeport neighborhood on Chicago's South Side on this date in 2009, someone torched the All Saints-St. Anthony Church on 28th Place and Wallace in an early morning hate crime attack. The perpetrator(s) used red duct tape to spell out an anti-religious message on the front doors of the church: "God is a lie. Rape happened here." A stained glass window was destroyed in the attack, but no one was injured.

Outside a Korean restaurant on East Colima Road in Rowland Heights, California, on this date in 2011 a 25-year-old Chinese-American man was brutally beaten, robbed and had his car vandalized solely because of his race allegedly by six Korean-American men belonging to the Asian Mafia Assassins, a street gang: Jachin Yi, 18, of Diamond Bar, California; Peter Kim, 19, also of Diamond Bar; Hwan Joon Huh, 29, also of Diamond Bar; and Jae Du, 25, of West Covina, California. Two other suspects were being sought at the time the arrests of the four men were made. The gang members were each charged with hate crimes, robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon. The victim was waiting for a take-out order when he was asked if he was Korean, and after he said he was Chinese he was followed outside where he beaten so severely staples in his head were required to close the gashes. The victim also had thousands of dollars worth of body damage done to his car, and he was robbed of his wallet.

Shortly after midnight on this date in 2011 outside Yesterday's Gone bar in downtown Brainerd, Minnesota, two white men who had been drinking in the bar savagely assaulted a black man, Willie Navy, 53, of Brainerd, outside the bar after hurling racial slurs at him and after questioning him about why he had been drinking in the bar. A Yesterday's Gone employee overheard Lucas Eastwood, 27 (Date of Birth: October 2, 1983), of Backus, Minnesota, and Travis Arnold Campbell, 29 (Date of Birth: November 4, 1981), of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, talk about attacking Mr. Navy immediately prior to the assault which left Mr. Navy with multiple and serious injuries to his head and face. Mr. Navy was taken to the Intensive Care Unit at Essentia Health’s St. Joseph’s Medical Center following the attack, and he lost vision in one eye as a result of the attack on him. Eastwood also allegedly punched a man in the mouth when he attempted to open the door for police officers at his home on Seventh Street. Eastwood, who was staying at the man's home, also allegedly physically prevented anyone from leaving the apartment. On February 8, 2011, Lucas Eastwood—who has a criminal history in Minnesota dating back to 2002 for misdemeanor charges for traffic, alcohol and marijuana offenses—was charged in the Crow Wing County District Court with felony first-degree assault, felony kidnapping to facilitate a felony or flight, felony third-degree assault, and gross misdemeanor fourth-degree assault motivated by bias (a hate crime); and, Travis Campbell—who has a criminal history in Minnesota dating back to 2001 for misdemeanor traffic offenses, various alcohol offenses, misdemeanor theft, disorderly conduct, fifth-degree domestic assault and gross misdemeanor fifth-degree assault—was charged with felony first-degree assault, felony third-degree assault and gross misdemeanor fourth-degree assault motivated by bias (a hate crime). As is the case with far too many hate crime offenses, including violent ones, prosecutors made a deal with the defendants. By September 2011 Lucas Eastwood and Travis A. Campbell pleaded guilty to first-degree felony assault in exchange for having the other charges against them dropped, including the assault motivated by racial bias charge (the hate crime charge). Campbell is expected to serve two years behind bars, while Eastwood will likely serve seven years.