Community groups urge sustained Stop the Hate funding, equitable security grants and cross-community solidarity

Representatives from a broad set of civil-rights organizations told the Select Committee that legal remedies alone will not address the scale of harm and urged lawmakers to sustain and expand funding and programs that support victims and prevention.

Dr. Jonathan Butler, first vice president of the NAACP California State Conference, warned that official reports understate the scale of victimization and urged long-term, sustainable funding for programs such as Stop the Hate. “Black Californians remain the single most targeted racial and ethnic group, with 508 documented anti‑Black hate crime events in 2025,” Butler said.

David Beau Carsley, CEO of Jewish California, asked the Legislature to support bills recognizing Jewish ethnicity and establishing safe worship zones and noted that the state made nonprofit security funding permanent at $80,000,000 annually — a funding decision he described as a "generational win" for at‑risk organizations.

Monica Madrid of CHIRLA and Usama Muqaddim of CARE California pressed for equity reviews of grant selection, stronger outreach to Muslim and immigrant-serving groups, culturally competent reporting channels, and rapid emergency support after the May 18 attack in San Diego. Donnie Tsuboi of Asian Americans Advancing Justice SoCal emphasized language access and disaggregated data so underreporting in API communities is not mistaken for lower incidence.

Panelists asked the Legislature to combine enforcement and prevention — strengthening reporting and victim services while funding civic education, translation services, and community-based rapid response.