Orange County Human Relations Commission

Orange County's Annual Hate Crime Report is Totally Gay (as in Being Increasingly Victimized)

The Orange County Human Relations Commission issued an annual report this morning that finds "violent" hate crimes against gays and lesbians nearly doubled here from 2011 to 2012 but, overall, hatin' is down.Rusty Kennedy, the commission's longtime executive director, says the uptick in crimes again ... More >>

Did OC Human Relations Breach an Anaheim Community's Trust During Last Summer's Unrest?

Anaheim's city manager has yet to propose a model for a civilian review board, a task the council unanimously directed him to do in January, but the very idea has already caused political tensions to arise from the police union. In his staff report, Bob Wigenroth strongly favored the possibilit ... More >>

Todd Spitzer Postpones Violence Forum in Wake of Chris Dorner and Ali Syed Murders

I began the second-to-the-last update on the Feb. 19 freeway shooting rampage by mentioning Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer had hijacked an afternoon press conference by law enforcement. As a Los Angeles television station was cutting away from the live coverage because of this unwelcome intru ... More >>

[UPDATED with BET Analyst Weighs In:] Were Rossmoor Bottle Bombs a Prank or Hate Crime?

See the update at the end of this post where a BET commentator wonders about links between the Roosmoor incident, a black family leaving Yorba Linda and OC skinheads.ORIGINAL POST, DEC. 5, 6:06 A.M.: Are the bombs of Rossmoor pranks, racist messages or prank racist messages?Inquiring minds want to k ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's Crusade Against Muslim Brotherhood Has OC Ties, Supporter Claims

A local supporter of the call by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) and four other House members for an investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood's "infiltration" into the Obama administration is using a couple Orange County incidents to build his case.One happened at UC Irvine--although it's not t ... More >>

OC Human Relations Commission Avoids Death...For Now

The draconian and ideological $200,000 slash proposed by Supervisor Shawn Nelson to the county-contracted core budget of the Orange County Human Relations Commission won't be enacted. The Board of Supervisors met earlier today after postponing any action last week and came to a negotiated compromise ... More >>

Deep Slash of OC Human Relations Commission's Core Budget Proposed, As It is Every Year

Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, it's become an annual tradition to have the Orange County Human Relations Commission see its reflection in the blade of an impending cut before the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Shawn Nelson is now wielding a proposal that seeks the elimina ... More >>

Tensions Remain High at Anaheim Police Meeting Over their Killing of Martin Angel Hernandez

​Two weeks after a fatal officer-involved shooting in Anaheim resulted in the death of Martin Angel Hernandez, the surrounding community once again came out in sizable numbers to express frustration. The setting this time was the Ponderosa Elementary School Library where the Anaheim Police Departm ... More >>

Bruce Gleason Wants Your God to Noexist

Forget Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the rest. It's all about us, says Orange County's most famous atheist

Jon Dumitru, Wackjob Orange Councilmember, Continues to Court the Anti-Muslim Vote for His Mayoral Campaign

​Last time we checked in on Orange councilmember Jon Dumitru, he was leaving misspelled anti-Islamic ramblings on his Facebook page that he then tried to laughably clean up after the fact. That little incident sparked a nationwide furor, but turned Dumitru into a star among the lunatic set, the pe ... More >>

Sardar Fauja Singh, the "Turbaned Tornado," Brings Ageless Message to OC Students and Teachers

​Orange County, prepare yourself for the "Turbaned Tornado." That's the nickname of Sardar Fauja Singh, the keynote speaker at the Orange County Human Relations Commission's 23rd annual "Walk in my Shoes" leadership conference Thursday at Cal State Fullerton.At age 100, Singh has worn out many sho ... More >>

[UPDATED with Sentence:] Izad Chavoshan Tried to Burn Down Irvine Church Four Times Over Masturbation Teachings

​UPDATE, AUG. 19, 11:24 A.M.: Huntington Beach's Izad Chavoshan, who tried four times to burn down Orange County Church of Christ in Irvine because of its teachings against masturbation, was sentenced today to six years and four months in state prison.Not only did Chavoshan earn the ridicule of r ... More >>

[UPDATED with Hate Crimes Down In OC, Or Are They?:]African-Americans Were Victims of One-Third of OC's 2010 Hate Crimes: Report

​UPDATED, AUGUST 18, 4:48 P.M.: Update by Marisa Gerber.Statistics show that hate crimes are down in OC, but nobody's overly convinced. There was a buzzword at this morning's event, where last year' hate crime report was released. What was the word? Underreporting. The report, which was ... More >>

[UPDATED with Sentence for Deborah Pauly Threats:] Video Captures Protesters, Politicians Berating Muslims at Yorba Linda Charity Function

Paul Dean Andrews​UPDATE, MAY 25, 3:46 P.M.: A San Pedro man was sentenced today to 97 days in jail, three years probation and an order to stay away from Deborah Pauly for threatening violence against the Villa Park city councilwoman via a Facebook message. Paul Dean Andrews, 28, was slapped with ... More >>

Feminist Activists Shout Down Santa Ana's Santora Arts Building During Artwalk

Carla Zarate​As people strolled down Sycamore Street for Saturday's Santa Ana Artists Village Artwalk, they were greeted by the spectacle of a squared circle and Lucha Libre. After 8 p.m. on Broadway in front of the Santora Arts Building, onlookers happened upon a much different scene of la lucha ... More >>

[UPDATED with New Anti-Muslim Rally Plans:] Video Captures Protesters, Politicians Berating Muslims at Yorba Linda Charity Function

Muzammil Siddiqi​Here we go again.Organizers of February's controversial and much-blasted anti-Muslim rally in Yorba Linda have issued an ultimatum to the Orange County Human Relations Commission: rescind the Community Leader award it is presenting to Islamic Society of Orange County Imam Muzammil ... More >>

[UPDATED With CAIR Backing Off Allegations Against Lounge Owner] Muslim Cab Driver's Beating in Newport Beach Spurs Call for Hate-Crime Probe

MySpaceEdgar Uria​UPDATE, MARCH 31, 12:59 P.M.: The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is backing off claims that the owner of a cigar lounge was involved in the beating of a Muslim cab driver in Newport Beach.On CAIR-LA's Facebook page, the Anaheim office of the Muslim American rights o ... More >>

[UPDATE: OC Democrats Blast Pauly] Video Captures Protesters, Politicians Berating Muslims at Yorba Linda Charity Function

​UPDATE, MARCH 25, 4:40 P.M.: The Democratic Party of Orange County has weighed in on Villa Park City Councilwoman's Deborah Pauly's harsh remarks at an anti-Muslim rally in Yorba Linda last month. (Welcome to the party, folks!)As you might expect from a party philosophically opposite of a teabagg ... More >>

[UPDATED] Spray Haters Spray Hate on Anaheim Church, County Office in Santa Ana

​Update, Jan. 18, 4:07 p.m.: There was a mistake in the original post about an anti-Catholic hate message sprayed on an Anaheim church wall and racist hate graffiti sprayed on a wall outside a county office in Santa Ana. We wrote that the incidents--both discovered on Jan. 11--were apparently un ... More >>

Natalie Kennedy, OC Civil Rights Pioneer, Among Those We Lost in 2010

Photo by Kimberly ValenzuelaSharon and Natalie Kennedy​One of my all-time favorite quotes came not from a legend but rather a nun quoted in the National Catholic Reporter, who said, "When you work on the margins, you really don't expect much recognition at the center. This is the choice I made." S ... More >>

Mi Casa Es Mi Casa

How Fullerton resident Alex Bernal's 1943 battle against housing discrimination helped change the course of American civil rights

Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Down in California, Report Finds

Yesterday, the California Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released its annual hate crime report, "The Status of Muslim Civil Rights, California 2009." Despite the name, the report actually deals with incidents from the previous year, which are as follows:​*A total of 48 ... More >>

Forty Years Later, the Clash Between the Black Panthers and Santa Ana P.D. Still Influences OC Life

Bootlicker Helps OC's Most Persecuted Minority Fight Racism

I'm not even going to try mimic Moxley's harlequin prose whenever he bothers with Orange County Register columnist Gordon Dillow, so here's the straight dope: Today, Bootlicker writes about Joe Labarrere of Brea, who visited Fresca's in the city and was offended that the mildest hot sauce was labele ... More >>

Oaxacan in Orange County

Or: How to keep Mexicans in Mexico

Hatesville, USA

Welcome to Costa Mesa . . . if youre colored, please leave

Reel Orange

I Am Orange County lets Latino youth show their real OC

Razin' La Raza

Whether posing as protesters or cutting off speeches, OC police clamp down on immigrant-rights activists

Were All Victims Now!

Plea bargain in anti-Christian shooting raises questions about fairness of hate-crime laws

Mayhem in Santa Ana

Alleged anti-Christian hate crime may have Norwegian roots

A Case of Morder

Death-metal vocalist faces life for an alleged Christian hate crime

Final Solution

Jim Silva wants to kill the Human Relations Commission

Diary of a Mad County

Anthrax Schmanthrax

Letters

January-March

Primordial Ooze