The UCLA Police Department said investigators are looking into a possible anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime targeting a student near campus on Christmas Eve.
The incident happened at 6 p.m. as the student was walking in the 11000 block of Weyburn Avenue by Westwood Village.
Police said a black Mercedes convertible with four people in it pulled up next to the student. Officials said one person yelled a “homophobic slur” and another thew “wads of paper” at the pedestrian.
UCLA police did not say what the slur was, and said the investigation is ongoing.
Hate crimes were up 45% last year in L.A. County, according to a county report released this month. The 1,350 hate crimes in 2023 — the highest number since the county started tallying them in 1980 — were fueled by an increase in crimes targeting LGBTQ+, Jewish and Black people.
In 2022, the county identified a total of 930 hate crimes. Before 2023, the highest number — 1,031 — was in 2001. That was the year of the Sept. 11 attacks, after which hate crimes increased nationally.
