On this date in 1998 in Los Angeles, California, Justin Nicholas Bertone, 19, of Sunland and Jeffrey Allen Campbell, 28, of Burbank, were charged with eleven counts of making a false bomb report, ten counts of sending a false bomb, one count of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, one count of shooting at an unoccupied vehicle, one count of possession for sale of methamphetamine and one count of possession for sale marijuana. Said by authorities to be connected with the white supremacist group, White Criminals on Dope, and the southern California skinhead group, the Peckerwoods, Bertone and Campbell stood accused of placing fake bombs to intimidate minority residents and business owners into leaving Hollywood, California, as well as the San Fernando Valley. On April 22, 1998, Bertone and Campbell both pleaded no contest. Campbell was handed a 15-year prison sentence and Bertone was given a seven-year prison sentence.

In Franklin, Massachusetts on this date in 2007, John Wallace, 50, turned himself in and was arrested for allegedly defacing the apartment door of his neighbor, Paul King, with a spray-painted swastika, and the word “jail” on January 4, 2007. Mr. King’s ex-wife is Jewish. Wallace was charged with defacing property, damaging property with the intent to intimidate, and civil rights violation—a hate crime. The case will be heard out of the Wrentham (Massachusetts) District Court, and Wallace has a pre-trial hearing scheduled for July 10, 2008. (See also June 5 for a related case involving Wallace and Mr. King).

In Springfield, Missouri, on this date in 2011 it was discovered that someone vandalized the Springfield Islamic Center with graffiti that included a phallic symbol near one of the mosque's doors, the phrase "gay insurrection," a reference to Allah being gay, obscenities, and the phrase, "You bash us in Pakistan we bash you here." Despite the anti-Muslim graffiti, oddly the FBI determined the vandalism was not a federal hate crime. Damage was estimated to be about $1,000.

On this date in 2012 in El Paso, Texas, a gay man, Emilio Moreno, 23, was assaulted and robbed in an alley outside the Rumors Sports Club & Lounge located at 3317 Dyer by two men hurling anti-gay slurs at him in what police have called a hate crime. Mr. Moreno suffered a broken nose and other facial injuries for which he was hospitalized. The victim had his wallet stolen containing six dollars; and, he had his class ring and jacket stolen. On January 12, 2012, police arrested a Hispanic man, Fernando Pacheco-Martinez, 26, of El Paso, and charged him with Robbery; to our knowledge no hate crime charges were filed against Martinez. Following his arrest, Pacheco-Martinez was held on $75,000 bail at the El Paso County Jail. Also arrested was a second Hispanic man, Arturo Contreras, 24.

On this date in 2012 on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, some drew a swastika on the Haggett Hall dormitory room door of a 19-year-old Jewish male student in what was deemed a hate crime.