Clarifying a hate crime offense.

Broader hate crime protections in Washington

Beginning July 27, 2025, Washington law covers hate crimes where bias is only part of the reason for the act. The act must be malicious and intentional: assault, damage or destruction of another person’s property, or a qualifying threat. Protected traits include race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, and mental, physical, or sensory disability. The accused person’s perception matters; being mistaken about the victim’s traits is not a defense. Sexual orientation includes heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality. Gender expression or identity covers identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, and expression, regardless of sex assigned at birth. A threat must target a specific person or group and cause reasonable fear of harm to people or property. Fear is judged from the perspective of a reasonable person who shares the victim’s protected trait. Threats include direct or indirect intent to injure someone or damage property, including harm to another person. Words alone qualify only when their context makes them a threat, and not when the victim clearly sees it cannot be carried out. Courts can infer intent to threaten from specified acts: burning a cross on a perceived African American victim’s property; placing a noose on a perceived racial or ethnic minority victim’s property; or marking a perceived Jewish victim’s property with a Nazi emblem. This also covers derogatory defacement of religious property, placing damaged religious items or scripture on a victim’s property, and damaging or removing religious clothing without permission. Other acts can still support prosecution. The accused person’s expressions or associations can serve as evidence of the crime only when specifically related to it; witness-credibility evidence rules still apply. Hate crimes are class C felonies, and separate crimes can be prosecuted and punished separately. Victims retain other legal remedies, but the law does not expand civil rights beyond existing constitutional and Washington civil law protections.