Brian Freeman – October 2021
Hate crimes in 2021 are on pace to surpass even the spike in 2020 in the United States — and many of them are linked to religious bigotry, Axios reported on Tuesday.
The number of hate crimes reported in 2020 was the highest since 2001, when the U.S. experienced a surge of Islamophobia after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to updated FBI statistics released yesterday.
Houses of worship of various faiths are also suffering from high amounts of vandalism, arson, and other property damage: There have been 100 acts of hate recorded against Catholic sites in the U.S. since May of 2020, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said last week.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before Congress on Monday that the Justice Department has charged at least 17 people with federal hate crimes and added that the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is also expediting its review of federal hate crimes, Axios reported.
Many incidents have apparently been influenced by news and political events worldwide.