Chicago Sees Surge in Hate Crimes

Hate crimes have increased across the country since President Donald Trump took office and especially in Chicago, according to a new report.

A new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center shows that hate crimes are on the rise in Chicago and across the country.  Anti-Muslim hate crimes have surged since President Trump took office in 2016, according to federal data. Discriminatory crime statistics for 2016 show a more than 20% increase in reported incidents compared to 2015.

The FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin.”

Hate Crime Statistics

The FBI’s hate crime statistics are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. They show an increase in hate crimes across the country, but Chicago’s numbers stand out.

By October 18, the city had 77 hate crimes reported to Chicago’s Commission on Human Relations office. That is a 71% increase from the 45 reported last year during the same time period.

The vast majority of these reported incidents were motivated by race or ethnicity, with Jews and Muslims topping the list of victims targeted for their religion or faith. The most frequently targeted were the Jewish with 18 reports. Black individuals were targeted 16 times, five reports for both Asians and Arabic, and one Catholic. There were eight LBGTQ members were attacked and one was specified as anti-lesbian.

Chicago police (CPD) say they have their own methods for compiling data on hate crimes — and that those methods differ from what’s used by the FBI. But even if you look at only one source for information about hate crimes in Chicago — either one set of numbers or another — the trend is clear. There has been a surge over recent years and it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The CPD received 120 hate crimes reported.

ADL Report

In 2017, Chicago saw 270 incidents of anti-Semitic hate crimes — a 15% increase from the previous year — according to a report by Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

The ADL report also found that 2017 saw the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents since 1994. The largest number of those incidents occurred on college campuses; many were committed by white supremacists who targeted Jewish students and faculty members. This year the ADL’s website states they have had 1,418 incidents reported across the nation.

On October 16 antisemetic flyers were placed on vehicle windshields near The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles, California. Three days prior swastika drawings were found on the campus of the University of California. That same day a middle school in Massachusetts found swastikas drawn on the campus. The same hateful symbols were found two weeks in a row on the campus of Ithaca College in New York.

That’s just a few hateful crimes that have happened within the past few days.

Additional Information

Hate crimes have increased against people in many areas:

• Sexual orientation and religion increased by 10%.
• Race and ethnicity increased by 7.6%.
• Disability increased by 4.3%.
• Gender identity increased by 1.7%.

Nationally, over 7,000 hate crimes were reported in 2016 compared to 5,800 reported in 2015 — an uptick of 23.3%.

The number of hate crimes has been on the rise since 2014. Over 6,700 incidents were reported across the country then. However, this new report shows that 2016 saw a further increase of approximately 3% from 2015 which saw 5,800 incidents reported nationally.

Hate crimes against Muslims also surged since President Donald Trump took office — a 90% increase from 2014-2016, according to the latest FBI statistics.

Reported Hate Crimes in Chicago

In Chicago specifically, there were 470 total incidents reported in 2016 — an increase of 45% from 2015 when there were 339 recorded instances of hatred directed at people based on their race or ethnicity alone or as part of an anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crime.

Chicago police reported at least three hate attacks on Muslim women in recent weeks. This includes one who was robbed and beaten by two men who yelled slurs and made comments about her faith. The woman’s family said she was wearing traditional Muslim garb, including a hijab head covering, when she was attacked.

Discriminatory crimes tend to be underreported because victims fear being ostracized. Or they don’t want to draw attention to themselves or their families, experts say. Police are generally more likely than civilians to report a hate crime. They believe it will be investigated more thoroughly by authorities. In addition, it will make the public will take notice and act against further violence if there are consequences for perpetrators of such crimes.

So why are discriminatory crimes on the rise? The answer is complicated, but it’s clear that this problem will not be solved overnight. The country needs more resources dedicated to investigating these crimes and prosecuting perpetrators. We need every community member who witnesses or experiences a hate crime to report it as soon as possible.

Written by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

Chicago Sun-Times: Hate crime reports surge
VOA: US Hate Crimes Rise During First Half of 2022
ADL: ADL Tracker of Antisemitic Incidents

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Inset Image Courtesy of Alisdare Hickson‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License