FBI: Hate crimes, anti-Semitic attacks up in ’17

WASHINGTON – Hate crimes spiked by nearly 17 percent last year and included a corresponding jump in anti-Semitic attacks, the FBI found.

The report comes weeks after a 46year-old man stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue, shouting anti-Semitic epithets before fatally shooting 11 people.

In all, 7,175 hate incidents were reported in 2017, up from 6,121 in the previous year.

There also was a 17 percent increase in attacks against Jewish people: at least 976 cases involving 1,017 victims. That number was up from 834 cases involving 862 people the previous year. Though the numbers were on the rise, the bureau reported that the increase corresponded with an uptick in the number of agencies reporting such crimes to the FBI.

Last year, about 1,000 additional agencies submitted data to the bureau.

The report prompted calls from law enforcement and civil rights advocates for a new focus on such attacks.

“This report is a call to action – and we will heed that call,” acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Tuesday. “The Department of Justice’s top priority is to reduce violent crime in America, and hate crimes are violent crimes. They are also despicable violations of our core values as Americans.”

Some civil rights groups asserted that the 2017 numbers did not account for a number of high-profile incidents, including the fatal shooting of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a Kansas bar.

Sikh Coalition Legal Director Amrith Kaur said law enforcement agencies need additional training to recognize and report hate-motivated offenses.

“While everybody should be horrified by these jaw-dropping statistics, these numbers still fail to paint a complete picture of the enormity of the problem,” Kaur said.