HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) – Hate crimes are on the rise in Connecticut.

The year-over-year trend has prompted law officials to have community conversations about what a hate crime is and how you can stop them.

Marginalized groups have been targeted more—not only in our state, but across the country.

However, just because hate is present does not necessarily mean a crime has been committed.

It is still serious, but law enforcement is helping you know the difference.

“Hate crimes have increased year over year since 2021 in CT. That is a concerning trend,” said Ronnel Higgins, CT Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Commissioner.

130 hate crimes were reported to the Connecticut Hate Crimes Investigative Unit just last year.

Police believe one of the reasons the numbers have skyrocketed is due to people becoming more comfortable reporting incidents.

“It identifies trends of hate bias and deploys resources to prevent future offenders,” Higgins said.

Earlier this year in March, A 12-year-old Waterbury girl was arrested and charged with a hate crime for allegedly attacking two Muslim classmates.

In April, two men were arrested for assaulting a man of Indian descent in Southington.

The HCLU describes the crime as hate being the motivation against a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or gender.

Ari Weisenfeld talks about the fears in his Jewish community.

“Many members of the community are living in a state of fear, apprehension, and nervousness. Obviously, the world is in a state of being a crazy place, and it’s not gotten any less crazy recently,” he said.

Wendy Tyson-Wood of the Greater Waterbury NAACP says it’s important to know what the crime is and how to respond.

“It made it crystal clear, in terms of, it is a criminal act, in addition to the motivation of that act. So, we don’t have to jump the gun,” Tyson Wood said.

While not all hate qualifies as a crime, officials say it is still wrong. Derogatory language or images can cause for legal action.

Commissioner Ronnel Higgins says becoming active with the youth to help build a better future is essential.

“There’s a lot of concern about where hate is coming from. There’s a lot of questions about our youth and how they’re interacting with one another. So we’re starting to work with education partners,” Higgins said.

Officials say that just because an act may not qualify as a hate crime, it is still serious, and it’s important to notify local law enforcement.

This will help them track these incidents with better accuracy.

Copyright 2025 WFSB. All rights reserved.

Associated Press

Connecticut Sun (2-13, 2-6 Eastern Conference) at Seattle Storm (9-6, 8-4 Western Conference)

Seattle; Friday, 10 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Seattle Storm hosts the Connecticut Sun after Skylar Diggins scored 22 points in the Seattle Storm’s 94-86 loss to the Indiana Fever.

The Storm have gone 5-3 in home games. Seattle is seventh in the Western Conference with 24.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Nneka Ogwumike averaging 6.5.

The Sun are 1-7 on the road. Connecticut is sixth in the Eastern Conference scoring 28.1 points per game in the paint led by Tina Charles averaging 7.9.

Seattle is shooting 46.8% from the field this season, 1.4 percentage points higher than the 45.4% Connecticut allows to opponents. Connecticut averages 70.9 points per game, 8.6 fewer points than the 79.5 Seattle allows.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ogwumike is averaging 17.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals for the Storm. Diggins is averaging 18.6 points over the last 10 games.

Charles is averaging 16.2 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Sun. Marina Mabrey is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Storm: 6-4, averaging 85.6 points, 29.8 rebounds, 22.0 assists, 8.5 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.6 points per game.

Sun: 2-8, averaging 70.5 points, 29.0 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 7.6 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 39.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 87.0 points.

INJURIES: Storm: Katie Lou Samuelson: out for season (knee).

Sun: Marina Mabrey: out (knee).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Among the activities impacted by the new laws are street takeovers, e-book contracts, public school curriculum, election security, and cooperation with immigration.

By Viktoria Sundqvist, CTNewsJunkie.com 

A new fiscal year for the state of Connecticut begins on July 1 and many new laws will take effect on that day as well, some of which were enacted as far back as the 2021 legislative session.

A new biennial budget has been approved, guiding the next two years of the state’s finances, and a large bonding package passed the legislature this year, allowing for anything from grants to large construction projects.

Lawmakers also discussed fiscal guardrails, street takeovers, bear hunting, cannabis, and health care. Here is a summary of some of the new laws taking effect on July 1.

Click here to read the rest of the article on CTNewsJunkie.com.

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