U.S. hate crimes fell 8 percent in 2014: FBI

(Reuters) - U.S. hate crimes fell 8 percent in 2014, with race by far the most common bias trigger, the FBI said on Monday.

Police recorded 5,479 crimes motivated by bias last year, down from 5,928 in 2013, the FBI said in a breakdown of data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

The 5,462 incidents involving a single bias totaled 6,681 victims. Of the victims, 48.3 percent were targeted because of suspects’ racial bias, followed by sexual orientation, at 18.7 percent, and 17.1 percent for religion, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

Of the 5,192 offenders, 52 percent were white and 23.2 percent were African-American, it said.

The greatest percentage, or 31.6 percent, of incidents involving bias toward race, gender, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation and ethnicity last year took place in or near residences, the FBI said.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Dan Grebler)