LA City Council wants attacks on homeless defined as hate crime

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles City Council wants homeless people to be protected under the state's hate-crime laws.

The council unanimously approved a resolution supporting any legislation that would do just that.

The move was prompted by several serious and deadly attacks on transients this year.

In one incident, a homeless man and woman were attacked with battery acid while they slept.

In another, a suspect was arrested in the beatings of homeless people that left four dead and four others seriously injured.

The resolution says the current definition of hate crime does not include housing status, even though such attacks are a persistent problem.