January 13

In 2008 on this date in Anderson Mill, Texas (Williamson County), a resident discovered that someone had spray-painted a swastika on the rear window of his car. That same weekend, the Williamson County Sheriff's Department reported that swastikas were spray-painted on cars, on doors of homes, and on posts.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, on this date in 2011, two unnamed teenagers (a 15- or 16-year-old identified only as M.D.C., and a 17-year-old known only as B.K.C., both students at Harding High School), and three adults—a white woman, Tiffany Ann Clock, 21, of Columbia Heights, Minnesota, her white boyfriend Anthony Martin Ramos, 24, also of Columbia Heights, and Trenton Eugene Johnson, 22, a black man from St. Paul—were arrested and charged with aggravated first-degree robbery and kidnapping, both felonies. The five allegedly robbed, beat, and shot a 16-year-old austistic teenaged male in the head twice with a BB gun on December 23, 2010, near the Conway Recreation Center. The District Attorney's office said that hate crime charges would not likely be filed despite the fact that it appears the victim, who is from St. Paul, was targeted because he was mentally handicapped. Walking to Cub Foods at the Sun Ray Shopping Center, the victim was approached by one of the juveniles (M.D.C.) and asked if he wanted to "hang out." Then, the victim was taken behind the St. Paul Public Library's Sun Ray Branch where he was hancuffed before being robbed of his money, a CD player, a bottle of giner ale, a camera, and his cell phone. The victim was then shoved him to the ground and at that point Anthony Ramos allegedly pointed a BB gun at him. The autistic victim was allegedly then punched in the chest and stomach by each of the alleged perpetrators, and then ordered to sit against a wall where Anthony M. Ramos allegedly stood over the victim and fired the BB gun at his head from close range. After he was shot twice in the head, the blood-soaked victim was ordered to run around in the snow as the alleged perpetrators laughed at him. If convicted, the adults arrested could each get up to 20 years in prison on each of the felony charges. Tiffany Clock has a prior history of violence; she was convicted in 2008 of first-degree domestic assault.

On this date in 2011 in Washington, D.C., Superior Court Judge Robert Morin sentenced Dimas A. Melgar, 45, of Washington, D.C., to fourteen months in prison, a $100 fine, and three years of supervised release for his noontime attack on two transgendered women at the corner of 14th and Shepherd Streets, N.W. on March 13, 2010. Melgar—who pleaded guilty to felony assault with significant bodily injury in October, 2010 as part of a plea bargain—approached his victims, yelled that he hates all gay people, then picked up a metal pole and struck one of the victims in the face with it. He had been indicted on one count of assault with a dangerous weapon as a hate crime, and two counts of making threats.

In Boston, Massachusetts, on this date in 2011, near the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Washington Street, a Massachusetts State Police trooper witnessed the attack of two women both from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. A homeless man, William Braxton, 51, was charged with Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, Attempted Robbery, Disorderly Conduct, and Violation of Civil Rights (a hate crime). After allegedly hurling anti-gay slurs, Braxton allegedly punched a 46-year-old woman in the face, and allegedly kicked her when she fell to the ground, and then allegedly beat and kicked a 48-year-old woman who was walking with the first victim. Braxton also allegedly tried to rob one of the women who had been holding hands as they walked down the street together immediately prior to the attack on them. After a January 19, 2011, court hearing, Braxton was deemed too dangerous to be released from custody.

In Boston, Massachusetts on this date in 2011, judge Michael J. Coyne ordered a psychiatric evaluation of a black man, Henry L. Alexander, 51, (DOB: February 11, 1959) of the Dorchester section of Boston, after Alexander was arraigned on two counts each of Assault & Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, Threats to Commit a Crime, and Violation of Civil Rights (a hate crime). Henry Alexander allegedly struck two women with his cane while hurling anti-gay slurs at them, and also allegedly threatened Boston police officers after they arrived at the scene. Alexander, who was ordered to Bridgewater State Hospital for his psychiatric evaluation, also allegedly told the judge that he was going to kill someone.

In Oxford, Ohio, on this date in 2011, Grant Rose, 20, of Alexandria, Kentucky, was arrested on a charge of first-degree misdemeanor assault for allegedly assaulting an openly gay Miami University student, Benjamin Collings, in April, 2010, outside the Stadium Bar. Mr. Collings sustained signficant facial injuries as a result of the attack on him. Rose was not charged with a hate crime, because Ohio did not have a hate crimes law that included sexual orientation as a protected category. It is not uncommon for residents of nearly all-white towns to be charged with hate crimes (regardless of the bias motivation for the hate crime) or to be involved in bias-motivated violence; and, as of the 2000 U.S. Census, Alexandria, Kentucky, was 98.82% White, and only 0.02% African American, 0.02% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.76% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 0.34% from other races, and 0.34% from two or more races.

On this date in 2011 outside the Pelican Motel in Niagara Falls, New York, a homeless transient with a long criminal record, James M. Armstrong, 62, allegedly slashed a Niagara Falls cab driver of Indian descent. On April 11, 2011, Armstrong was arraigned on (and pleaded not guilty to) charges of second-degree assault as a hate crime, second-degree menacing as a hate crime, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (a pocket knife). Assistant District Attorney Joseph A. Scalzo said Armstrong had spent two-and-a-half to three months in a mental institution a short time before the hate crime incident. If convicted of the hate crimes, James Armstrong could get up to 15 years in prison (if convicted of the assault and the menacing charges without the hate crime designation, he could get up to seven years in prison).