US: Hate crime rose 5% to 6,121 incidents in 2016, says FBI
Muslims were targeted in 307 incidents of the 1,273 cases reportedly motivated by religion.
The number of reported hate crimes in the United States in 2016 rose around 5% against 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Monday. The agency’s annual report reveals that 6,121 criminal incidents were reported that were motivated by bias toward race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender identity. In 2015, over 5,800 incidents of hate crime were reported.
The report has been prepared based on the data provided by the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics Program that includes 15,254 law enforcement agencies.
Of the total reported crimes, 3,489 incidents were motivated by race, ethnicity or ancestry. About 1,739 cases were against African Americans, according to the report. Muslims were targeted in 307 incidents of the 1,273 cases reported motivated by religion. Ten of these cases were against Hindus in the US. A total of 1,076 incidents were reported involving lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people.
“No person should have to fear being violently attacked because of who they are, what they believe, or how they worship,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement, according to the Washington Post.