US experiences spike in hate crimes

More hate crimes were reported in the United States last year, with an uptick in incidents motivated by bias against Jews, Muslims and LGBT people, among others, according to new FBI data released Monday.

There were more than 6,100 reported incidents of hate crimes in 2016, up from more than 5,800 the year before, the FBI said in a report based on data submitted by law-enforcement agencies across the country. As was the case in 2015, the largest share of victims last year — nearly 6 in 10 — were targeted due to bias against the victim’s race or ethnicity.

Crimes motivated by hatred of a religion increased last year, with a rise in the number of crimes targeting Jews and Muslims.

Of the incidents spurred by hatred of a particular religion, antiSemitism was again the leading cause, motivating about 55 percent of those episodes, followed by anti-Muslim sentiment, which spurred about 25 percent.