The ADL, Yolo DA & Sacramento DA presented a training to offices in San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Fresno
(Woodland, CA) – February 3, 2017 – On February 2, 2017, the Consulate-General in Sacramento, San Francisco, Fresno and San Jose hosted a training on hate crimes with the Anti-Defamation League in San Francisco as well as District Attorney’s offices in Yolo and Sacramento County.
ADL Assistant Director Nancy Appel coordinated the presentation and talked about the facts necessary to prove a hate crime and discussed the difference between a hate crime and a hate incident. The ADL is the nation’s premier civil rights/human relations agency and fights anti-Semetism and all forms of bigotry, and defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all.
Ms. Appel gave her presentation at the San Francisco office of the Consulate-General. Consulate staff from offices in Sacramento, San Jose and Fresno watched the presentation by video conference. Ms. Appel told the audience that to prove a hate crime, a substantial factor in motivating the perpetrator to commit the underlying crime (vandalism, assault and battery, etc.) must be a bias against the victim based on disability, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. Consulate staff asked many insightful questions and Ms. Appel discussed the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and then gave the group scenarios to discuss. From the Sacramento Consulate office, Jonathan Raven of the Yolo County District Attorney’s office and Andy Soloman of the Sacramento District Attorney’s office discussed some of the hate crime cases their offices have prosecuted and talked about some of the challenges and nuances involved in these types of crimes. Currently, Yolo County DA is prosecuting a hate crime against an African American woman that occurred on the UC Davis campus. Additionally, the DA along with the Davis Police Department and the FBI are investigating a hate crime where a suspect targeted the Islamic Center of Davis.
After the presentation finished, a staff member from the Sacramento office thanked the ADL and DA’s offices and said “it was very helpful for us and the rest of the Consulate offices that joined us.”
Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig stated “The Yolo County District Attorney’s office is committed to fighting on behalf of victims of hate crimes and bigotry. We strongly encourage all victims to come forward and report hate crimes to law enforcement which will vigorously investigate and prosecute crimes motivated by hate.”
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