Image copyright Reuters Image caption Police say confirmed and suspected gay hate led to the deaths of 27 men in Sydney in previous decades

The killings of 27 men in Australia between 1976 and 2000 were most likely homophobic hate crimes, police say.

A New South Wales police taskforce has spent three years reviewing 86 cases in Australia's most populous state.

It was prompted by a report from the Australian Institute of Criminology that questioned whether police had investigated some cases sufficiently.

On Wednesday, police acknowledged that they had previously played a part in "marginalising" the LGBT community.

"[New South Wales Police] acknowledges without qualification both its and society's acceptance of gay bashings and shocking violence directed at gay men, and the LGBT community between 1976 and 2000," it said in a statement.

It added: "There were certainly people murdered because of their sexuality during this time."

'Brutal' violence

The review, launched in 2015, focused on the suspicious deaths of people with connections to the LGBT community.

It found that hate crimes were either confirmed or suspected in 27 deaths, and that further investigation was needed in another 25 cases. Hate crimes were ruled out in 34 deaths.

The report said the level of violence directed towards gay men during the period was "extreme and often brutal".

In some cases, men were found dead in parks and at the bottom of cliffs near known gay beats in Sydney.

"Anti-gay sentiment is very, very difficult to identify from archived files," said Assistant Commissioner Tony Crandell on Wednesday.

However, he said society and police had effectively given attackers a "licence" to target gay people. Homosexuality was only decriminalised in New South Wales in 1984.

Earlier this year, police formally apologised for violence directed towards participants in Sydney's first Mardi Gras in 1978.</s>COLUMBIA — Multiple studies report LGBT people are the most targeted minority group in hate crimes in the U.S.

In 2005, LGBT people were the second-most victimized minority group in the U.S., after members of the Jewish community. In 2014, members of the LGBT community surpassed Jewish peoples as the most victimized. Muslims and blacks follow Jews on the list.

Samuel Voss, a member of the LGBT community, moved to Columbia from Iowa last year. Voss said that despite the data, he feels safe in the "close-knit" community.

"I was never big into the community back home," Voss said.

Voss said he found his niche in Columbia when he decided to lend a hand at the Ying Yang Night Club.

The FBI reports roughly 19 percent of hate crime victims are targeted because of bias against sexual orientation.

"We sit here in 2016, and people need to start making some changes, really just let people express who they are," Voss said.

The Hate Crime Statistics Act defines hate crimes as “crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, gender or gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity."

The Human Rights Campaign reports "religious fundamentalism is the strongest predictor of negative implicit evaluations of homosexual relative to heterosexual individuals."

Voss said the events in Orlando President Obama described as "hate" and terrorism" hit close to home.

"I think we will see an increased amount of this going on," Voss said. "Orlando obviously was the biggest eye opener for everybody, and I think we are going to continue to see it, and it's going to be unfortunate."</s>LGBTI advocacy groups have responded to the New South Wales Police Force’s Strike Force Parrabell Report into historical anti-gay hate crimes, calling for improved oversight of police and a formal apology for how the crimes were handled.

The police have released the final report, which reviewed 88 deaths between 1976 and 2000, focusing on whether or not there was homophobic bias.

The report determined that 27 cases had evidence or suspected evidence of bias crime—including five that remain unsolved—and a further 25 were found to have insufficient information to make a determination.

LGBTI health organisation ACON has responded to the report, calling the figures “alarming”.

“The Strike Force Parrabell Report confirms a substantial number of these crimes were motivated by anti-gay bias,” said ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill.

“It also states that there was a high proportion of cases where there was insufficient evidence to absolutely determine bias.

“These findings are alarming and speak to the extraordinarily high level of violent crimes that were directed to members of our community during this time, often going accounted for.”

Parkhill acknowledged the work by police in reviewing the cases, and said that returning unsolved cases to active investigation would be welcomed.

“Victims of these crimes, as well as their surviving loved ones and family members, deserve truth, justice and closure,” he said.

The report contains 12 recommendations, including new initiatives such as the establishment of an LGBTI conference for police, implementation of a revised system for early identification of bias crimes, and an expanded LGBTIQ Liaison Officer (GLLO) program.

“The GLLO program has had significant benefits for the LGBTI community and we support the recommendation for the program’s expansion,” Parkhill said.

“But before we expand it, we would like to see a review, involving LGBTI community members and organisation, to enhance its effectiveness.”

Following the release last month of ACON’s own report into historical homophobic and transphobic murders, Parkhill questioned whether the police report’s recommendations go far enough.

“While we support Strike Force Parrabell Report’s recommendation for a revised system that can assist frontline operational officers to better identify and record bias crimes, we believe this needs to be coupled with a strengthening of Bias Crimes Unit’s capacity to more fully respond to the needs of LGBTI community members,” said Parkhill.

Among the other recommendations outlined in ACON’s report was an independent inquiry into the actions of the various arms of the criminal justice system, to fully understand the impediments to justice during this period in history.

ACON is also seeking a formal apology by the police to the LGBTI community for inadequate responses to violence throughout the period covered in the report.

“We would welcome an apology from the New South Wales Police Force to the LGBTI community,” said Parkhill.

“This would send a positive sign to any same-sex attracted couple who are still too frightened to hold hands in many places around the state for fear of violence.

“Importantly, it will go a long way in healing the grief and trauma experienced by victims, families and other members of our communities.”

The New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (NSWGLRL) has echoed the call for an apology and an inquiry into police oversight.

“[As well as] an apology from Commissioner [Mick] Fuller for those affected by historical bias-based crimes in New South Wales, we ask for a commitment from government to ensure the efficacy and appropriate oversight as highlighted in recent requirements of vilification legislations, for the ongoing safety of our LGBTI communities,” said a NSWGLRL spokesperson.

“It is also paramount that New South Wales Police continue to focus on improving its culture and conduct towards LGBTI individuals.”</s>A review of 88 suspicious deaths has revealed 27 men were likely murdered simply for being gay during a violent and dark period of Sydney's history.

The unsolved homicide unit is now examining 23 cases with fears homophobic killers may still walk the streets.

From the 1970s gay men were found slain in parks, homes or washed onto sharp rocks below Sydney's secluded gay beats.

The city's budding LGBTIQ community was being targeted while much of the community looked away.

The violence reached a bloody crescendo in the late 1980s and early 1990s fuelled by a "moral panic" triggered by the HIV epidemic.

Up to 20 assaults took place each day but unsympathetic elements of the police and judiciary meant most attacks were never reported or investigated.

NSW Police on Wednesday released findings from a three-year review of 88 high-profile cases from 1976 to 2000.

Strike Force Parrabell's goal was to "do all that is possible" to heal the rift that grew between police and the LGBTIQ community in those decades.

A team of police investigators and independent academics from Flinders University looked at whether attackers had shown evidence of gay-hate motivation.

They reached different conclusions in some cases but agreed eight deaths were the result of gay hate.

All eight have been solved - the killers were charged and convicted.

A further 19 deaths are suspected gay hate crimes and five of those remain unsolved.

Among them was 25-year-old newsreader Ross Warren whose keys were found at the base of a cliff at a Tamarama gay beat in 1989.

His body was never found but homophobic youths were known to be launching attacks on gay men in the area to assert masculinity or as gang initiation.

The deputy state coroner, in 2005, ruled Mr Warren was a homicide victim.

Scott Johnson, who was found dead on the rocks below North Head's gay beat in 1988, is also a suspected victim.

His death, like many others, was ruled a suicide by an early inquest.

But Parrabell, like the latest coronial ruling in 2017, saw enough evidence to rule homophobic attackers may have thrown or chased him off the cliff.

Only 34 cases had no evidence of bias while the remaining 25 had insufficient evidence for classification - but could not be ruled out.

The churches, state and medical world classified homosexuality as a sin, crime and disease respectively during much of this period.

NSW Police, on Wednesday, acknowledged it had been no better - but wanted to move forward.

It's important NSW Police acknowledge its part in history," Assistant Commissioner Tony Crandell told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

"If you fail to have a thorough investigation in even one death it affects them all."

Parrabell made a series of recommendations but stopped short of adopting all those proposed by LGBTIQ group ACON - including an apology from police.

AAP understands police leadership will consider an apology.</s>June 27, 2018. NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Tony Crandell in Sydney discusses the findings of a review of 86 possible gay-hate deaths. Mr Crandell said 23 cases are now back with the unsolved homicide unit but a lack of new evidence has hampered the investigation. "There are people who have committed awful crimes in the past living with us in the community," Mr Crandell said. (AAP Video/Luke Costin)

AN AUSTRALIAN neo-Nazi group that hates foreigners, despises homosexuals and worships Adolf Hitler is spreading its poisonous messages across the country.

Almost every major Australian city has been targeted.

In Sydney, swastikas have been erected.

In Adelaide, synagogues have been vandalised with celebrations of Hitler’s birthday.

In Brisbane, locals have been warned to keep an eye out for “the Hitlers you’ve been waiting for”.

In Canberra, posters for the group brag about “21st century Hitler Youth”.

Even regional centres like Bathurst in the New South Wales central west are not immune to hate speech. Locals there are confronted with posters reading “white revolution is the only solution”.

This week, the group struck again in Melbourne where posters were quickly pulled down from power poles around the city.

They read: “Gays are a walking disease … what are you doing about AIDS?” and “Happy AIDS Month.”

The group behind the messages call themselves Antipodean Resistance and have been on the radar of police for some time.

Online they declare that Australia is “terminally ill”, “weak and crumbling under the weight of progressive degeneracy”. They say they are “filling a long empty void”.

“We have had enough. We refuse to keep sitting by and watching our people falter. We will be at the forefront of Australian National Socialist activism, filling a long empty void. We will bring the final victory of White Australia through rallies, demonstrations, and postering. We will lay the groundwork for our own unity via social events and group activities.

“We accept no degeneracy within our ranks. Being White is not enough. Every individual involved with Antipodean Resistance must dedicate himself to a higher standard of behaviour.

“We oppose substance abuse, homosexuality, and all other rotten, irresponsible distractions laid before us by Jews and globalist elites. We aim to build a society by Nature’s iron laws: those of National Socialism.”

In pictures on social media, the group holds WWII-era Nazi flags but members cover their faces for protection.

Each month they share progress reports. In May, the group wrote that “cops are not the friends of nationalists”.

“They are direct agents of the state which is responsible for everything ruining this country and killing our people,:" the Antipodean Resistance stated.

But their rants are not reflective of a wider prejudice. In an editorial for the Bathurst-based newspaper the Western Advocate, editors wrote that the content of the group’s messages was “disturbing” but they “have no place in modern, mainstream Australian society”.

“Australia is not a place where political extremes have prospered and our nation is all the better for it,” an editorial stated earlier this year.

“This is a country that overwhelmingly believes in the fair go and compassion for others. Australia is a mature democracy where the sensible majority has held the balance of power for more than a century since federation, though the political stripes of those in government might change every few years.

“Extremists will always struggle to gain a stronghold in a nation where there is more good than bad, and where the people have a natural radar for bullsh*t.”

The group was also deprived of one of its social media channels when Twitter suspended its account in January.

Australia’s Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich said it was “about time” the group was silenced.

“In 2017, Antipodean Resistance used its Twitter account to post photos of their vandalism, their distribution of swastika posters and violent stickers at universities and in public places across the nation, as well as radicalisation camps in Victoria,” Dr Abramovich said.

“We know that they are actively recruiting members through the web, and that they are being monitored by ASIO.

“Twitter, and other giant media companies must make it abundantly clear that AR and other white-supremacist groups have no role in our society, and those agents of hate, who traffic in incitement and vilification, will not be allowed to use these popular platforms to recruit, intimidate and promote their sickening agenda.”

Dr Abramovich condemned the posters discovered in Melbourne this week. He told the Star Observer the “virulent strain of homophobia” was “polluting and violating our streets”.

“There should be no room in Victoria for such contempt and hatred by a neo-Nazi group which is determined to vilify our diverse and vibrant LGBTIQ community, and send a message of fear and intimidation,” he said.

“These kinds of deplorable attacks will certainly shake many to the core and warrant priority response from the police and government.

“It is also a grim reminder that unchecked bigotry and incitement can ultimately lead to violence.

“Unfortunately, over the last few years we have seen a surge in racist rhetoric and white-supremacist activity across our nation, and we call on all good people to stand together and to say that we can turn back this dangerous tide.”</s>WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI says the number of hate crimes reported to police in 2011 declined slightly compared to the previous year.

Nearly half of the reported hate crimes in 2011 were motivated by racial bias, and one of every five hate crimes was motivated by a sexual orientation bias or religious bias. One in five was motivated by bias involving national origin or ethnicity.

Nearly 60 percent of the people who allegedly committed hate crimes were white. Some 20 percent were black.

The FBI has been collecting information on hate crimes for more than two decades. The highest-recorded number of hate crimes was in 2001, when 9,730 such crimes were reported.

Law enforcement agencies reported 6,222 hate crimes last year, compared to 6,628 in 2010 and 6,604 in 2009.</s>Each year, for the past three years, LGBT advocacy groups have tallied the killings of more than 20 transgender people in the U.S. Yet state or federal hate crime laws are rarely used to prosecute the slayings.

Now many LGBT-rights groups are questioning the effectiveness of the laws, saying they sometimes focus too tightly on individual acts without addressing underlying bias or wider violence.

The issue was in the spotlight this week as Missouri authorities investigated the killing of transgender teen Ally Steinfeld, who was stabbed in the genitals and had her eyes gouged out. Authorities insist the killing was not the result of anti-transgender hate.

Even if Missouri's hate crime law were invoked, it might not change the penalty. First-degree murder is already punishable by execution or life imprisonment.</s>“The NSW Police Force acknowledges without qualification both its and society’s acceptance of gay bashings and shocking violence directed towards gay men, and the LGBTI community between 1976 and 2000.”

In its briefing to the media ahead of the release of Strike Force Parrabell’s report today, this statement perhaps is the clearest sign yet that the NSW Police Force have taken an important step forwards.

Strike Force Parrabell involved years of additional investigative work by police and ACON is grateful for that investment. However, we are obliged to continue to ask questions and seek justice for those who died, and for those whose experiences are not included in Parrabell because they survived their injuries.

Of Parrabell’s 86 reviewable cases, 34 were determined to have "no evidence of bias". That means more than 50 cases were either confirmed homophobic hate crimes, or were unable to be confirmed as such due to investigative limitations, paperwork archiving or missing details. Reading the details of these cases, and understanding the effect of laws and the fear created by HIV and AIDS at the time, it is highly conceivable that these violent, brutal acts were motivated by gay hatred.</s>"It needs to be acknowledged and we need to do everything we can to make sure no one is ever again fearful for their life because of who they are." Among the unsolved is the death of John Russell, whose life was cut short in 1989 when he was discovered at the base of a cliff below Marks Park, a known gay beat below the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk. Mr Russell, 31, was in the midst of planning to travel around Australia when he was found lying on rocks below the cliff with extensive injuries. A coronial inquest in 2005, the second into his death, would find his injuries were the result of being "thrown from the cliff onto rocks, by a person or persons unknown." So too is that of Ross Warren, a 25-year-old up-and-coming newsreader who worked for the NBN regional television network.

He was last seen driving along Oxford Street, Darlinghurst on July 22, 1989, before his keys were found on a rock also at the base of a cliff off Tamarama's Marks Park; his car later located nearby. Ross Warren was an up-and-coming TV newsreader before his death in 1989. Mr Warren's body has never been found. The death of young mathematician Scott Johnson, whose 1988 death was also determined to be the result of a gay hate crime during an extraordinary third coronial inquest in November last year. That finding was reaffirmed by Strike Force Parrabell.

Strike Force Parrabell was launched following a submission to the Australian Institute of Criminology in 2013, which identified potential gay-hate motivations in 88 suspicious deaths across NSW. In the wake of the submission and subsequent media reports, police identified an urgent need to uncover evidence of homosexual bias among the 88 deaths, as well as address allegations of deliberate police inaction, police participation in gay bashings and police brutality. “We undertook this review knowing we can’t change the past, but we can shape our future," Assistant Commissioner Crandell said. Scott Johnson's death was determined to have been the result of a gay hate crime. “Our work was scrutinised by academic experts [at Flinders University], and the results show we didn’t always agree, but what is clear is that there were certainly people murdered because of their sexuality during this time."

Investigators classified eight cases as gay-hate bias-related crimes, and a further 19 suspected as gay-hate bias-related crimes; five of which remain unsolved. In most of the 23 unsolved deaths, such as that of 61-year-old Cyril Olsen who was found floating face down in Rushcutters Bay in August 1992, investigators said they had insufficient information to establish if it was, or wasn't a bias crime. Among those confirmed to be gay-hate killings, by both Parrabell and the independent university review team, was the murder of Patrick O'Neill at the hands of an 18-year-old male prostitute.

Mr O'Neill was found dead in his unit on Bayswater Road Kings Cross in 1985. The 68-year-old had been stabbed numerous times to his chest and throat, before he was covered in newspapers and clothing and set alight. Raymond Keam was found dead in Alison Park, Randwick in January 1987. Damon Randall Walsh, then 18, had left the Kings Cross apartment after engaging in consensual sex with Mr O'Neill, only to return with a pair of scissors he would use to inflict the vicious attack. In subsequent police interviews Walsh made repeated derogatory comments about homosexuals, while also acknowledging confusion over his own sexuality.

He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in jail. Other deaths reviewed include Richard Johnson, who was found near the toilet block of Alexandria Park January 1990 and Raymond Keam, 44, who was found in Alison Park, Randwick in January 1987. Strike Force Parrabell found 34 cases with no evidence of gay-hate bias crime, with four still yet to be solved. Insufficient information meant the 25 remaining cases could not be determined as either gay-hate related or not, 14 of which are still unsolved.

Of the 63 solved cases, in which a dominant motivation could be determined, nine were classified as gay-hate crimes, six were classified as motivated by paedophile-bias, 32 were found to be motivated by robbery, while 14 cases attracted other motivations. Flinders University’s Professor Willem de Lint said there was no easy way to truly determine if bias played a role in criminal acts. “While it is important to document bias, it is our view that the over-reporting and recording of bias can produce unfortunate consequences,” Professor de Lint said. “Over-reporting and recording is fuelled by a confirmation bias, where there is a tendency to search for evidence in accordance with a perception that the phenomenon is more widespread than records would indicate." Neither Strike Force Parrabell or the Flinders University researchers found evidence of institutional anti-gay police bias in their reviews.

It is understood Assistant Commissioner Crandell intends to brief Commissioner Fuller about the prospect of an apology. Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Scott Cook, said all unsolved Parrabell cases will be assessed under the unit’s new framework. “Our goal is more answers for more families, and importantly, we want justice for more victims," he said.</s>Published FBI data currently covers hate crimes only up to 2016, when totals increased across the nation for the second year in a row.

Our team of academic researchers specialize in analyzing and forecasting hate crime trends. We have collected new police data from 2017, ahead of the FBI totals, and performed the first analysis of that year’s hate crimes, with a particular emphasis on the 10 largest U.S. cities.

Our investigation found that hate crime totals for the 10 largest cities rose for four straight years to the highest level in a decade. Within these data are intriguing signs about the timing and direction of this bigotry.

Over the past several years, hate crimes have been on the rise in America’s largest cities. According to the FBI, a hate crime is 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.”

Nationally, levels in 2014 were the lowest since national reporting began in 1992, according to the FBI. Since then, hate crimes have steadily increased. In 2016, the last year with FBI totals available, hate crimes were up 11.7 percent compared to 2014.

We see three factors behind the moderate overall increases in 2016. First, there was a precipitous spike around the election. Second, on top of sustained levels of hate crimes against African-Americans, and a small increase against Jews, were larger percentage increases against other groups. Third, hate crimes increased by double-digit percentages in several large states, including New York, California, Florida and Illinois.

In 2017, our data show that hate crimes rose 12 percent over 2016 levels in 38 of the largest cities. There were 1,038 hate crimes in the nation’s 10 largest cities – the highest in more than a decade.

In contrast, overall crime dropped slightly in the first half of 2017, according to preliminary FBI figures which show a 0.8 percent drop in violent crime and a 2.9 percent decrease in property crime.

The six most frequently targeted groups in 2016, according to the FBI, were African-Americans; lesbians, gays and bisexuals; whites; Jews; Latinos; and Muslims. Race continued to be the most common category, comprising 57 percent of all hate crimes. Although African-Americans remained the most targeted group, they were at their lowest proportion of all hate crimes since 1992.

Twenty percent of all hate crimes in 2016 targeted religion, driven by increases in anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic attacks. Anti-Muslim hate crimes increased 99 percent between 2014 and 2016 with assaults rising to a record in 2016. Still, religion hate crimes overall remain below previous records.

Our 2017 data from the 10 largest cities, derived mostly from public records requests, reveals that motivation for hate crimes varied in significant ways between the 2016 FBI totals and our later city sample.

Anti-Black, anti-Semitic, anti-gay and anti-Latino were the most common type of hate crimes, but there was some variation. For instance, Jews were the primary target in New York, while lesbian, gay and bisexual persons were the most targeted in Los Angeles.

Despite consecutive annual increases in hate crimes reported to the FBI, hate crimes in 2016 were still far below 2001’s record high. There were 9,730 incidents in 2001, including a record spike tied to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Hate crimes in 2016 were down 19.7 percent over the previous 10 years. Meanwhile, overall serious property crime declined by 20 percent and serious violent crime by 12 over the same period.

In 2016, over half of all hate crimes reported to the FBI came from just six states. Only 1,776 of roughly 17,895 police agencies reported at least one hate crime. Many states with the highest percentages of African-Americans – such as Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama – barely reported any incidents.

In our 2017 hate crime study, we also uncovered several large cities with unusually low numbers of hate crime reports. Miami, Florida reported no hate crimes. Honolulu, Hawaii reported one, while Orlando, Florida reported five and Houston, Texas 11.

Analysis from the Anti-Defamation League found similar reporting disparities. More than 90 of the 307 largest U.S. cities either reported no hate crimes or did not participate in 2016. These variations may have been caused in part by differences in the way cities categorize crimes as hate crimes or by inadequate training and procedures.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics finds that hate crimes are considerably underreported, particularly among vulnerable populations such as disabled Americans. The bureau estimates that the overall frequency of hate crimes is far higher than FBI figures, constituting 3.7 percent of all violent crime.

Our analysis of FBI data revealed that there were 735 hate crimes in November 2016, the most since 2007 and the most for the month of November since 1992.

Hate crimes more than doubled the day after the 2016 election, with a 92 percent spike in average daily hate crimes in the two weeks following the election compared to the daily average from the beginning of the year. Crimes against Latinos increased by the greatest percent, followed by Muslims and Arabs and African-Americans.

In 2016, the federal government first become aware of a massive effort by Russian operatives to affect the electoral process by manipulating social media around the presidential election.

What’s notable about Russian interference was their focus on sowing racial discord. In May, USA Today published an analysis of 3,517 Facebook ads placed by the indicted Russian Internet Research Agency between June 2015 and August 2017. They found that 55 percent of ads “made express references to race.” There were 25 million ad impressions, with placement tripling in the months immediately before election time.

We think that this behavior is noteworthy. Further research is needed, but there appears to be a correlation between the rise in targeted racially divisive social media ads and a near contemporaneous rise in hate crime. This may mark a new era, where the salvos are virtual and the systematic targeting of domestic social cohesion is all too real.
Police in New South Wales, Australia, reclassify 27 murders from 1976 to 2000 as possible homophobic hate crimes following a review prompted by an Australian Institute of Criminology report that suggested crimes against LGBT victims had been insufficiently investigated.