Jason Cherkis broke down the most recent set of crime data from MPD on Friday, and his findings were disturbing. While the number of hate crimes — or, perhaps more accurately, the number of reported hate crimes — have remained stagnant over the last three years, hate crimes involving sexual orientation have skyrocketed in Wards 7 and 8, compared to 2008. Wards 7 and 8, eh? Cherkis goes ahead and makes the negative connection which immediately springs to mind: Councilmembers Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) were the only two nay votes last Tuesday when same-sex marriage legislation passed the Council. On the flip side, the uptick might actually be a positive sign that police officers are actually beginning to rightfully report these types of crimes as hate crimes. Obviously, with such crimes, one must consider a veritable black hole of incredibly sensitive factors, so narrowing down one specific conclusion from such a small amount of data is always going to be a challenge. So what can we narrow down? He was talking about politics, but Bishop Harry Jackson’s promise of “bloodletting” in retribution for the legislation’s success certainly looks even worse than it did when it was printed next to his name.