Hate crimes across the United States spiked 17 per cent in 2017 — marking a rise for the third straight year — with a 37 per cent increase in anti- Semitic hate crimes, according to an FBI report released Tuesday. There were 7,175 reported hate crimes last year, up from 6,121 in 2016. The FBI’s annual hate crimes report defines hate crimes as those motivated by bias based on a person’s race, religion or sexual orientation, among other categories.
There was a nearly 23 per cent increase in religion-based hate crimes, with more than 900 reports of crimes targeting Jews and Jewish institutions. The FBI said there were 2,013 hate crimes against African-Americans, a 16 per cent increase. Some of the increases may be the result of better reporting by police departments, but law enforcement officials and advocacy groups don’t doubt that hate crimes are on the rise.
The report’s release comes about two weeks after a gunman shot to death 11 people inside a Pittsburgh synagogue. The suspect in that shooting, Robert Bowers, 46, expressed hatred of Jews during the rampage and later told police that “all these Jews need to die,” authorities said. Mr Bowers was charged with federal hate crimes and other charges.
Read the article in The Australian (AP).