WEST PALM BEACH — The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office has launched a new task force aimed at preventing and prosecuting hate crimes.
The task force joins prosecutors, law-enforcement officials and victims advocates with representatives from several community groups: one empowering members of the LBGTQ+ community, others geared toward uplifting people of color and Muslim Americans, and several targeting antisemitism.
Hate crimes in Florida are defined as those committed out of prejudice for one’s race, skin color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status or advanced age.
Statewide data collected by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement showed a more than 100% increase in antisemitic crimes from 2021 to 2022, according to a report published in December . Recent incidents in Palm Beach County include the projection of a swastika onto a building, the defacing of a rainbow-painted crosswalk , and the distribution of extremist literature .