INDIANAPOLIS – As community leaders continue to push for a hate crime law in Indiana, a new tool will help people share their experiences.
Hoosiers will be able to report hate crimes on the Central Indiana Alliance Against Hate website.
"One of the things we have found in previous attempts to get a hate crime law there has been insufficient data. We certainly envision this being used as a more effective mechanism in order to talk about sheer statistics,” said Amy Nelson of Central Indiana Alliance Against Hate. “Plus we don't want to lose those personal stories, but we need to have those statistics as well."
There have been numerous attempts to pass a hate crime law in Indiana over the years as the state is one is five without one.
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The organization recently held the Indiana Response to Hate Conference and said the event was not a direct response to the events in Charlottesville, but items needed to be addressed.
Judy Shepard said her family became victim of a hate crime in 1998 when her gay son Matthew Shepard was beaten by two men, tied to a fence, and set on fire, before being left to die.
“Post-election hate crimes have taken a spike up,” she said. “More terrible things happen to people of color, people in the gay community crimes against people who can't worship the way other people think they should, or immigrants. It's definitely on the rise again. I'm back to ground zero."
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