1998 Annual Report
Hate Crimes
| Motivation | 1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
| Race or National Origin | 7 |
4 |
8 |
| Religion | 2 |
1 |
1 |
| Sexual Orientation | 1 |
3 |
3 |
| Total | 10 |
8 |
12 |
"Hate Crime" is the common term for federal and state Civil Rights Violations. Hate crimes include any crimes principally motivated by hatred of another because of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, handicap status, or gender. All hate crimes would still be crimes even if the bias motivation were absent; therefore, each hate crime listed below is also tallied elsewhere in this report.
In 1998, 12 crimes were reported in Cambridge that could be classified as a "hate crimes":
On February 28, during the night, some unknown person left messages on the answering machine of a Mid-Cambridge resident, uttering slurs against his perceived sexual orientation. This crime was coded as an incident of harassing telephone calls.
In the morning of March 20, a business on Brattle Street received a telephone bomb threat in which the caller indicated that the motivation for the bombing was the religion of the victims. A bomb was not discovered. This incident was coded as a threat to commit a crime.
On March 25, at 7:00 p.m., a 49-year-old Mid-Cambridge man, riding his bicycle at the intersection of Broadway and Windsor Street, was jumped by four teenagers who shouted racial slurs. The victim rode away. This crime was classified as an unprovoked simple assault.
On May 18, at 3:35 p.m., at the intersection of Gore Street and Fifth Street, three males and one female threw a rock and a soda bottle at a Cambridge woman. They shouted racial and gender-based threats. This incident was coded as an unprovoked aggravated assault.
On June 23, at 5:30 p.m., a 21-year-old Boston woman was crossing Massachusetts Avenue at Church Street when a man spit on her and said "I don't like people with slanty eyes." This crime was coded as an unprovoked simple assault.
On July 13, 1998 at 12:10 p.m., two men were waiting in the food line at a shelter on Albany Street. Suddenly, one of them screamed, cursed the other, hurled a racial epithet, and shoved him in the chest. The crime was coded as an unprovoked simple assault.
On July 27, 1998, a Walden Square Road resident received a letter from an unknown person. The letter was filled with offensive racial remarks. This incident was categorized as criminal harassment.
On July 30, 1998, a Cedar Street resident went out to his car and found a racial epithet scratched into the hood of his car. This incident was coded as a malicious destruction of property.
On August 15, 1998, at 1:30 a.m., a Walden Square Road resident was walking down his street when another man passing him made a racial remark and hit him in the side of the head. This crime was coded as an unprovoked simple assault.
On November 18, 1998, at 5:00 a.m., a Fairmont Street resident received a call in which a person whispered a slur against sexual orientation. This incident was categorized as a harassing telephone call.
On November 19, 1998, at 2:30 p.m., a man walking through Harvard Square was beaten with his own cane by two unidentified males who continually uttered slurs against his sexual orientation. This crime was classified as an unprovoked aggravated assault.
On November 27, 1998, a Memorial Drive resident found notes taped to his door containing threats, obscenities, and racial slurs. This was categorized as threats to commit a crime.