As attacks on street vendors have reportedly increased, Santa Ana officials discussed July 20 passing a resolution that would classify them as hate crimes in the city.
A hate crime is a criminal act committed because of perceived characteristics of the victim, including disability, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, according to state law. When a case is classified as one, the perpetrator can receive harsher penalties in court.
The issue was introduced by Santa Ana City Councilman Jonathan Hernandez, who told The Epoch Times that he wanted to create this law after seeing a recent increase in reported street vendor attacks in nearby Los Angeles….