In a rare moment of bipartisanship, the House May 18 afternoon passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which mandates a review of hate crimes committed during the pandemic by the Justice Department âincluding expedited procedures for processing cases â and more resources for hate crimes reporting and assistance for victims of hate crimes.
The bill defines a COVID-19 hate crime as a violent crime that is motivated by two things: the actual or perceived characteristic of a person, including race, and the actual or perceived relationship to the spread of COVID-19 of any person because of that characteristic.
The bill would also encourage more reporting of incidents in multiple languages, and help make different communities feel more empowered to come forward and report hate incidents. It would also direct federal agencies to work with community-based organizations to raise awareness of hate crimes.