Whitmer signed a pair of bills into law that add acts of institutional desecration to the Michigan penal code, including acts of vandalism and threats targeting places of worship, cemeteries, community centers and other facilities.

If the amount of destruction or injury is $1,000 to $20,000 or the violator has one or more prior convictions for institutional desecration, they will be guilty of a felony punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, up to a $10,000 fine or three times the amount of destruction caused or both imprisonment and a fine.

If the amount of destruction or injury is more than $20,000 or the violator has two or more prior convictions for institutional desecration, they will be guilty of a felony punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment, up to a $15,000 fine or three times the amount of destruction caused or both imprisonment and a fine.

"Current law conflates attacks on houses of worship, cultural and community centers, minority-owned businesses, and other institutions with petty acts of vandalism—failing to recognize that attacks on our most sacred spaces terrorize and victimize entire communities,” said bill sponsor state Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, in a statement. "The passage of the Institutional Desecration Act marks a historic, long-overdue stride in Michigan’s battle against hate crimes, and I could not be prouder to see this bipartisan legislation become law."