In Missoula, Montana on this date in 2002, a lesbian couple—Carla Grayson and Adrianne Neff—and their 22-month old son almost perished in an arson torching of their home. The local newspaper, The Missoulian, reported that prior to the arson the couple had filed a lawsuit challenging the University of Montana's policy of not having same-sex partner benefits. It was further reported that the couple received at least two threatening letters just days after filing the lawsuit against Dr. Grayson's employer. One of the two hoax Anthrax letters was said to have contained a white powdery substance and a sheet of paper with the words “Die Dykes Anthrax.” Eighteen months after the fire that destroyed the couple's home, the case was closed without any arrests made. The citizens of Missoula responded to the hate attack, described as a murder attempt, by setting up a relief fund for the couple, donating money to them, spear-heading a rally and vigil at a local church that turned out hundreds and by displaying "Hate Hurts" signs around town as a show of support for the victims and to raise awareness about hate crimes.

On this date in 2005 in Central Islip, New York, U.S. District Judge Sandra Feuerstein ruled that civil lawsuit defendants Christopher Slavin, 33, and Ryan Wagner, 24, could not contest that they had conspired to assault—and then actually assaulted—two Mexican day laborers in 2000 in Farmingville, New York on Long Island, because the two men had been criminally convicted of the near-fatal beatings of Mr. Israel Perez, 24, and Mr. Magdaleno Estrada, 33. Please see our September 17 calendar date for more information about Slavin and Wagner.

On this date in 2007 in a Monmouth County New Jersey courtroom, a jury convicted James Schmidtberg, 20, of Keansburg, New Jersey, of second-degree Bias Intimidation (a hate crime), third-degree Aggravated Assault, third-degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, and fourth-degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon for assaulting two Latino immigrants, ages 29 and 45, on July 15, 2005, because of their ethnicity as the two victims rode their bicycles down Main Street in Keansburg on their way to work. One of the victims suffered a broken wrist in the attacks. Schmidtberg, who faced up to ten years in state prison, was sentenced to five years in state prison on May 17, 2007. Schmidtberg's co-defendant, Joshua Ramgoolam, 21, of Brooklyn, New York, pleaded guilty to second-degree Bias Intimidation, third-degree Aggravated Assault, and third-degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose on February 20, 2007. Ramgoolam was also sentenced to five years in state prison on June 1, 2007. Richard J. LeComte, 20, of Keansburg, was indicted with one count of witness tampering for his role during the police investigation of the hate crime assaults. All three men had been indicted on April 17, 2006, by a Monmouth County Grand Jury.

In the early morning hours on this date in 2009 in Fremont, Washington, Adam J. Whitney, 23, allegedly pushed an Indian taxi driver to the ground and punched him twice in the head, allegedly yelled racial slurs at him, allegedly threw objects at the taxi and kicked the taxi's windows, and allegedly fled into his apartment without paying his $10 taxi fare. Adam Whitney—who according to the police said to the taxi driver, "You (expletive) Punjabi, this is America. Get out of here."—was arrested a short time after the incident by Seattle police. On February 11, 2009, Whitney was charged with malicious harassment (a hate crime), and third-degree theft. If convicted as charged, Whitney could receive a one-year jail sentence.

On this date in 2010, a serial arsonist or a group of serial arsonists targeting predominantly white and predominantly black Christian churches in the Tyler, Texas area torched the Clear Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, and the recently remodeled Dover Baptist Church in Tyler. These were the eighth and ninth church arsons in the area since January 1, 2010, when the Faith Fellowship Church in Athens, Texas, was deliberately burned. The other churches torched were: Grace Community Church of Athens (on January 12, 2010); Lake Athens Baptist Church (January 12, 2010); Tyland Baptist Church in Tyler (January 16, 2010); First Church of Christ Scientist in Tyler (January 17, 2010); Prairie Creek Fellowship in Lindale (January 20, 2010); and the Russell Memorial United Methodist Church in Wills Point, Texas (February 4, 2010). The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched an investigation into the blazes that destroyed the houses of worship, which mistakenly have not been labelled hate crimes by authorities. On February 21, 2010, police arrested two former parishioners of the First Baptist Church located in Ben Wheeler, Texas, and charged each of them with one count of arson for allegedly setting fire to the Clear Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Lindale. Jason Robert Bourque, 19, of Lindale, and Daniel George McAllister, 21, originally from Ben Wheeler, and who had recently moved to San Antonio where he was arrested, could face life in prison if convicted.