The Justice Department's official No. 3 pledge to combat hate crimes is fueled by personal stories

When the Justice Department's deputy announced nearly $30 million in new federal funding last week to combat the rise in hate crimes, he paused to offer a personal reflection.

Ben Mizer told the audience he was “almost the same age” as Matthew Shepard, another young gay man living in a small college town in the late 1990s. Attackers beat Shepard, tied him to a fence and left him to die in 1998, sparking fear and horror across the country. The law named after him – and passed more than a decade later – gave the federal government new tools to prosecute people motivated by hate.

“What I want to say to members of the LGBTQ community is that the Department of Justice works on their behalf every day to ensure that their rights and their dignity are protected,” Mizer said in a recent interview. “And I’m proud to be a member of this community and at a senior level in the department.”

The FBI reported more than 11,000 hate crimes in 2023, including a sharp increase in anti-Jewish and anti-Black incidents. Mizer and other Justice Department leaders have addressed these and other crime problems with a two-pronged approach: prosecute criminals and make financial investments in public safety. The Justice Department administers billions of dollars in federal grants. The Office of Justice Programs has already invested more than $70 million in recent years to combat hate crimes.

Mizer, 47, oversees an enormous portfolio at the DOJ, from antitrust and the environment to civil rights. In recent weeks, he helped launch a lawsuit against the operators of a ship that brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore; announce a settlement over the Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, near where he spent his childhood; and bring blockbuster antitrust cases against Apple, Ticketmaster and Visa.

“Economic justice, in my opinion, means ensuring that everyone has a fair chance, that the playing field is level, and that companies do not use their power unfairly to harm competition or consumers,” Mizer said.

Mizer, the son of two union members, said he studied law at the University of Michigan to “help the little guy.” Since then, Mizer has served and served as attorney general in his home state of Ohio two separate positions at the Justice Department in Washington.

During the Obama years, Mizer helped implement a U.S. Supreme Court decision that invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. He attended the hearing before the High Court for another case, Obergefell versus Hodgeswhich ultimately legalized same-sex marriage.

“My husband and I enjoy the tremendous progress made on gay rights during the Obama era,” Mizer said. “But that doesn’t mean these battles are completely won.”

Mizer said he was proud of the work the Justice Department has done to challenge state laws that could deny gender-affirming care to transgender people — and to protect women's right to travel to secure health care, including abortion services.

It is not clear whether Mizer will remain at the Justice Department if Vice President Harris wins the White House. But he said working at the DOJ was “the honor of a lifetime.”

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