On this date in 2002, Darrin D. Grosskopf, 33, was convicted for stabbing to death Keith Ward, 21, in Waterloo, Wisconsin, in 2001, because Mr. Ward was gay. Grosskopf was sentenced to Life in prison, and he is serving his sentence at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.

An openly gay man, Maurice Dupree Green, 22, of Phoenix, Arizona, who cross-dressed and went by the name Melissa, was shot in the back as he walked down the street wearing women's clothing at 35th Avenue and Glenrosa in Phoenix in what police said was a hate crime. Mr. Green bled to death before paramedics arrived at the scene of the shooting which remains unsolved. Yearly candlelight vigils are held in Phoenix in his memory and to raise awareness about hate crimes. If you have any information about the shooting death of Maurice Green, please call 480-WITNESS.

In New York City, on this date in 2007, New York State Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley sentenced Steven Johnson, 39, to 240 years in prison for a violent incident that involved hate crimes and numerous victims. Johnson, who is Black, was previously found guilty of crimes stemming from his having shots patrons at an East Village wine bar on Second Avenue in June, 2002, screaming, “White people are going to burn tonight.” Armed with three pistols, kerosene, and a samurai sword, Johnson shot and wounded three people and sprayed several patrons with kerosene, threatening to set them on fire at Bar Veloce. Justice Wiley told Johnson at his sentencing that he had surrendered his right to live in society.

On this date in 2007 in New York City, four men pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the brutal beating of singer/performer Kevin Aviance, 38, last year in New York's East Village. Gerard Johnson, 17, from Manhattan, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault as a hate crime in exchange for a sentence of 15 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. Jarell Sears, 21, from Newark, New Jersey, and Akino George, 21, from the Bronx, both pleaded guilty to first-degree gang assault and received prison terms of eight years with five years of post-release supervision. Gregory Archie, 19, from Manhattan, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as a hate crime and was sentenced to six years in prison with three years of post-release supervision. Mr. Aviance was punched and kicked in the face and gay slurs were yelled at him during the attack that left him with multiple injuries including a broken jaw.

On Staten Island, New York, on this date in 2009, a black construction worker, Michael Franklin, 44, of Stapleton, was arrested for allegedly phoning in a phony hate crime attack. Said to have been angry that he had not been chosen to be a day laborer in the Fox Hills neighborhood on March 19, 2009 when three Latino men had been chosen, Franklin allegedly called 911 to say that he had killed "Mexicans" and dumped their bodies into the Great Kills Harbor. Officials erroneously said Franklin potentially faced several criminal charges, including reckless endangerment as a hate crime because officers and firefighters were put at risk as they attempted to rescue crime victims that did not exist. However, since Franklin never actually threatened anyone, attacked anyone, or committed a hate crime against anyone, hate crime charges were not filed against him. He was instead charged with third-degree falsely reporting an incident and second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, both misdemeanors.

In New York City on this date in 2011, a Vietnamese-born woman living with her wealthy husband in Melbourne, Florida, Ha Vasko, 67 (Date of Birth: August 15, 1943), was arrested in Manhattan for the fourth time in nine months for allegedly targeting Chinese people in New York's Chinatown for robbery. Vasko, who ironically is herself half-Chinese, is said to have repeatedly flown from Florida to New York to pickpocket Chinese people beginning June, 2010, and then giving the money she stole to charities. The Vietnamese woman is said to have told police, "I hate Chinese people ... They sell fake stuff, take the money and send the money back home. They get benefit cards and they don't contribute anything back. So I take their money and give it to people who need it. I give it to homeless people who need it." Vasko told the New York Post that she does not know why she hates Chinese people so much. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office deemed Vasko a "persistent offender," and that office announced on March 29, 2011, that the Manhattan Supreme Court indicted Ha Vasko on one count of fourth-degree Grand Larceny, and multiple counts of Jostling. In addition, two pending indictments previously filed charge her with fourth-degree Attempted Grand Larceny (a class A misdemeanor), eleven counts of fourth-degree Grand Larceny (a class E felony), eight counts of fourth-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property (a class E felony), third-degree Bribery (a class D felony), and nine counts of Jostling (a class A misdemeanor), all related to pickpocketing Chinese victims in New York City. Vasko, a former war refugee from Vietnam who was held at Rikers Island after her fourth arrest, could also face hate crime charges and receive up to four years in jail if convicted of such a charge. She pleaded not guilty on March 29, 2011. If convicted of the Bribery charge, Vasko could get up to seven years in prison; additionally, a class E felony is punishable by up to four years in prison, and a class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in jail.