On Tuesday, federal officials reported that hate crimes [1] in America are on the rise. Last year, hate crimes in the United States rose by 17% over the previous year. Nationwide, officials report that there were 7,175 hate crimes. In 2016, there were 6,121 hate crimes reported.
The increase has been attributed to increases in racial anti-semitic attacks and the normalization of white supremacy. In California alone, law enforcement reported that there were 1,095 crimes motivated by hate in the state last year. Those crimes were motivated by the victim’s race, ethnicity, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.
The majority of the cases, 603 were motivated by race, ethnicity, or ancestry. In 2016, there were 522 crimes with the same motivation. Hate crimes based on religion have increased 21 percent in California. Crimes based on sexual orientation similarly increased, with a rise of 19 percent in 2017 over 2016.
George Gascon is the District Attorney in San Francisco. He directly attributed the increase in hate crimes to the Trump administration. He attacked Trump for his rhetoric. He blamed the president for the rise in hate-fueled violence, saying that both his words and actions have made things worse and increased hate in the nation. For his part, the president denies any responsibility for the excessive hate that has come to define his administration.
Gacon said, “America’s elected president has mocked the disabled, called Mexicans rapists and murderers, executed a Muslim travel ban, issued disparaging remarks about women and African Americans, and is working to roll back protections for members of our transgender community.” He continued adding, “The country’s increase in hate crimes should be a surprise to no one, but it should be alarming to all. We look to our elected leaders to set an example.”
In one week in October, the nation saw three high profile hate crimes, pipe bombs sent to the president’s political adversaries, the mass murder of 12 people at a Synagogue, and the murder of black shoppers at a grocery store.