Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer opened an educational town hall on hate incidents and hate crimes in Laguna Woods last month with a personal memory of weeping while visiting the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

That incident became the driving force behind his campaign against hate, and led him to become a member of the board of the Anti-Defamation League.

The message of the town hall was simple: Don’t be afraid to speak up; it makes a difference.

The town hall, held May 19 in the City Council chambers and organized by Rabbi Peter Levi of the ADL, followed painfully close to a fatal shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods. The meeting had been scheduled before the shooting, in which one person died and five more were wounded.

Authorities are investigating the motive for the shooting, but Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes has said that it may have been motivated by politically driven hate.

Authorities have charged David Wenwei Chou, 68, of Las Vegas, with capital murder in the shooting. Chou also faces special circumstances murder charges for allegedly lying in wait, five counts of attempted murder, four counts of unlawful possession of explosives, and eligibility for the death penalty.

The town hall panel included Doug Chaffee, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors; Fifth District Supervisor Lisa Bartlett; Laguna Woods Mayor Carol Moore; and Deputy District Attorney William Ha.

Ha, who specializes in hate crime prosecution, explained that a hate incident is any non-criminal conduct motivated by bias against someone’s disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or a combination of these protected classes – even if it is constitutionally protected speech.

A criminal act must be committed in order to escalate the incident to a hate crime, committed in whole or in part on these protected classes, he said.

Spitzer clarified the difference: “A hate crime is like an add-on, but you have to have that underlying crime.”

Still, he said, it’s important to report all events.

“Don’t let the difference between hate crimes and hate incidents discourage you from reporting to your local law enforcement agency or the human relations committee,” Spitzer said. “If you feel threatened, or if you feel unsafe – just call. Let us determine that.”

Orange County has prosecuted more hate crimes in the past three years than in the past 25 years, Spitzer said, as a result of active community reporting. He credits the county’s “forceful” practice of charging enhancements – or extra penalties – for keeping the county one of the safest areas to live.

According to an FBI report, hate crimes in the United States have risen 42% since 2014 – the highest in the past 12 years.

“I can just tell you, when you see a swastika, it will emote every emotion from you,” Spitzer, who was raised in the Jewish faith, said, in reference to a March report of a woman walking in the Village wearing an armband with the Nazi insignia. “It is one of those symbols, like certain words, that will also elicit that kind of response.”

Spitzer announced that the woman has since moved out of the Village. The incident was reported by other residents to authorities and is under investigation, officials have said.

Bartlett pointed to the surge in assaults targeting Asian communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased 1,800% in Orange County, according to a 2020 Hate Crime Report by the OC Human Relations Commission.

“We must create safe spaces for healing and lead conversations on reimagining the ways we can fight hate as a community,” she said.

In response to the rise in anti-Asian hate, Bartlett championed a $1 million campaign to launch this summer aimed at informing the public of the Human Relations Commission’s expansion, now with freshly hired multilingual staff and resources.

“We discovered that some people were afraid to call in and make a report because they didn’t speak English,” Bartlett said, adding that the center is ready to assist non-English speakers. “No person should ever be denied having their voice heard.”

Though the criteria for hate crimes and hate incidents may be different, guest speaker Matthew Brown, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League, said he understands the impact to be the same.

“I think one of the most important messages to walk out of here with is that there is no significant difference in the importance of hate incidents versus hate crimes,” he said.

Brown, who oversees Law Enforcement Initiatives & Community Security within the nationwide, nongovernmental agency, noted that, regardless of the degree of escalation, acts of hatred are intended to send a message.

The ADL has 25 regional offices housing investigative researchers who are specialists on hate groups monitoring the internet for “intentionality, certainty, urgency and enormity” in online language use and extremist activity, Brown said.

“Fortunately, most hate groups are out there to ruin your day – but not be violent,” he said.

Many conversations get stuck on the “slippery slope” between free speech and hate speech, Brown said, when it’s really a matter of cultural intervention.

Pulling from history, Spitzer reminded the crowd that when a neo-Nazi group wanted to march through the Chicago suburb of Skokie in 1978, it was the American Civil Liberties Union that defended the group’s right to free speech and assembly.

“Some of the people who’ve been most oppressed by hate have stood up to justify free speech,” he said. “As somebody who comes from the background that I do, I’ve always had a hard time understanding that – but it’s the law, and it’s the country we live in.”

Brown advised the community to counter hateful messaging with robust reporting, holding public officials accountable to speak against hate, amplifying good speech and forming multicultural advisory councils.

Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn of the Reform Temple of Laguna Woods found the town hall “effective and informative.”

Still, he said “the missing piece was the next step in the process — a multifaceted approach to unify our community, breaking down the different types of barriers that currently exist.”

“Our residents’ efforts in this area are just starting,” he said. “We hope to collaborate with City Hall and Orange County to make this a reality by the end of the year.”

Witnesses to and victims of hate crimes and hate incidents in Orange County can call their local law enforcement agency or report, confidentially, through the Human Relations Commission hotline at 714-480-6580.

Village residents brainstorm ways to stand up against hate

Earlier this year, about a dozen Laguna Woods residents and others gathered at a private home in the Village for a workshop to discuss concerns that not enough was being done to protect residents from incidents of hate and racism. Many who live in the Village, which is home to World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors alike, say they are frustrated.

Rabbi Peter Levi, a regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, prompted the group for ideas on how to curate a new message: “Laguna Woods is a hate-free city.”

Proactive ideas on how to cross-culturally engage the community passed around the room, such as food and film festivals, group interactivity, rallies, marches, educational conventions and guest speakers.

Levi coached residents on how to mobilize with positive messaging and foster an anti-hate culture within the community.

And he encouraged people to speak up when they see acts of hate and racism by reporting them to advocacy groups, such as the ADL, and to the police or local security so they are recorded. “Data is how we change policies,” he said, “which is how we change culture.”

Levi noted the reaction can’t be just naming and shaming or hosting a one-off rally.

“It’s never a checkbox, one-and-done,” he said. “It’s a nonstop, ongoing effort.”

In 2021, there were 2,717 antisemitic incidents reported to the ADL in the United States, an all-time high since recording began in 1979, according to a news release. It represented a 34% increase year over year.

At the workshop, six-year Village resident Rebeca Gilad highlighted a Village TV inclusive program, “Did You Know?,” that she hosts. It features residents who come from immigrant backgrounds to share their culture.

Gilad, who also serves as the vice president of the Laguna Woods Democratic Club, brainstormed an outreach campaign that would call on presidents of other clubs, such as the Korean American Club and the Village Christian Protestant Club, to create a cultural-exchange network in order to expand inclusivity and involvement at club events.

“This way, we can start working together with representatives of other groups and enrich our points of view and friendships,” she said.

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