A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, the FBI has defined a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” Hate itself is not a crime—and the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties.
As defined by the United States Department of Justice
Hate
The term "hate" can be misleading. When used in a hate crime law, the word "hate" does not mean rage or anger or general dislike. It means bias against persons with specific characteristics that are defined by the relevant law.
Most hate crime laws cover crimes committed because of race, color, and religion. Many also prohibit crimes committed on the basis of perceived or actual disability, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
Crime
The "crime" in hate crime is often a violent crime, such as assault, murder, arson, vandalism, or threats to commit such crimes. It may also cover conspiring or asking another person to commit such crimes, even if the crime was never carried out.
