Tag: hate crimes

The rash of threats, which began in January, has unnerved Jewish communities nationwide—a religious group consistently the target of hate crimes.

The number of hate groups in the United States increased for the second consecutive year—a rise partly attributed to “radical right” groups emboldened by President Donald Trump’s candidacy, according to a recent report.

In total, the college has reported four separate incidents to Nassau County police from Oct. 15 to Dec. 2, police said. In three of the incidents, multiple swastikas were discovered inside campus bathrooms. The anti-Semitic symbol was also found on a handrail and wall of the campus’ “B” building.

Complaints of harassment and ethnically or racially motivated hate crimes across the country have put communities on edge, including in New York, where a swastika and the word “Trump” were spray-painted on a wall at SUNY Geneseo. Although only some of the incidents mention Trump or his surprise victory explicitly, the spate of verbal or physical attacks has evoked fears among minority groups that a segment of the population has been emboldened by Trump’s campaign rhetoric.

In releasing its report, the FBI highlighted the arrest of a Florida man who later pleaded guilty to threatening to firebomb a Florida mosque and shoot its congregants. "I don’t care if they’re [expletive] two years old or a hundred," he said in a voicemail message left with the mosque.