FBI: Hate Crimes Rose For Second Straight Year In 2016

Source: Associated Press




By SADIE GURMAN Published NOVEMBER 13, 2017 1:52 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hate crimes rose for the second straight year in 2016, with increases in attacks motivated by bias against blacks, Jews, Muslims and LGBT people, according to FBI statistics released Monday.

There were more than 6,100 hate crimes last year, up about 5 percent over the previous year. In 2015 and 2016, that number was driven by crimes against people because of their race or ethnicity.

More than half the 4,229 racially motivated crimes were against black people, while 20 percent were against whites, the report shows. And Jews were targeted in more than half the 1,538 crimes that were motivated by religion. Crimes fueled by bias against LGBT people rose from 203 in 2015 to 234 last year.

The yearly report is the most comprehensive accounting of hate crimes in the U.S. But authorities have long warned it is incomplete, in part because it is based on voluntary reporting by police agencies across the country.

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