FBI report shows thousands more hate crimes in Trump's first year, a record high

[Brainspore]

@KludgeGrrrl

And blaming the sad state of current affairs on Trump is overly facile.

I blame Trump for his non-trivial role in the sad state of current affairs. He could have used his position and influence to make a stand against violent White Nationalists. Instead he did almost everything in his power to embolden them.

[GulliverFoyle]

@Shuck

These numbers are effectively just samplings that are only accurate in that they show trends up or down - the actual numbers are much higher. These are number compiled from local law enforcement data. But 80-something percent of the law enforcement entities who pass along their crime statistics to the FBI list no hate crimes at all . Clearly they’re happening, they either just aren’t being recorded as hate crimes, or that information isn’t passed along to the FBI.

And then there’s the violent crimes that never get reported to police, because calling the police is in itself a risk for marginalized groups.

@Shuck

And it’s not so much that downplaying right-wing political violence started there, but it was simply continuing.

I don’t think anyone here is saying it began with Trump. We’re saying it’s escalating and he’s rabidly helping it do so. That’s why when people respond to a report like this, which explicitly states the simple numbers that the existing problem is exacerbated, by saying “but history”, they come across as missing the point. This report, Xeni’s post on it and comments commenting on it are not making the argument that the “but history” folks are arguing against.

[ficuswhisperer]

@Boundegar

There are still people trying to argue “no such thing as a hate crime.”

Probably the same people that “don’t believe in hate speech.”

[ficuswhisperer]

Thanks, Obama.

[b00fh]

Well that’s not a real increase, it’s just the Deep State cooking the numbers to make Trump look bad.

Also, the primary target of this increase is obviously the oppressed minority of conservatives.

Also, all this is a good thing because we are going back to our core values, and everyone secretly likes that, they are just being silenced by the left and their political correctness.

Apparently, all three can be true simultaneously.

[fidgit]

Is it weird that the “known offender” stat says only just over half of them were ID’d as white? There’s a 20% block that’s unknown, so I assume a large chunk of that group is white, but if I’m reading this right doesn’t that suggest a large amount of the reported hate crimes are not being committed by the group in power?

(I’m not sure I’m reading this correctly, I’m not trying to engage in whataboutism, I’m sincerely asking the group what I’m missing here)

[KludgeGrrrl]

@Brainspore

I blame Trump for his non-trivial role in the sad state of current affairs

Won’t argue with that. I blame Trump for all the terrible irresponsible things he does. He is doing great harm.

But it upsets me when Americans act like all these terrible things he is doing are just because Trump is some kind of maverick, that there are no links between current behaviour and the statements and actions of political leaders (not to mention popular sentiment) preceding Trump. Parts of the Republican Party have deliberately followed a policy of sowing division and appealing to Americans’ base instincts, deliberately trying to turn Americans against each other.

As many have noted, there is no dearth of preceding racism and intolerance in the United States. It is the government’s job to combat that. Yet politicians have intentionally fed the flames. Trump’s more flagrant, the consequences more severe, but this did not just start with him.

[GagHalfrunt]

@YetiLives

Remember when Homeland Security released its report in 2015 stating the biggest threat to the domestic U.S. was right wing militia groups and the conservatives made them bury that report? This goes much further back than trump. trump was just the fat ass fugly match that lit the fuse.

IIRC that report did not suggest any link between mainstream conservatives and the far right. The conservatives who complained about the report made that connection themselves by complaining.

[Rachel_Hall]

The children didn’t have a choice. Burning it to the ground is a hollow victory.

[Shuck]

@GulliverFoyle

And then there’s the violent crimes that never get reported to police, because calling the police is in itself a risk for marginalized groups.

Yep, that too. But what’s maddening is that there are crimes which are pretty explicitly hate crimes that get reported to the police, but the police refuse to acknowledge what they are.
That, and generally downplaying right-wing acts of terror. I was reading the NYTimes Sunday section that focused on this, and was really struck by a story of someone who blew themselves up making a bomb, in a house filled with white supremacist literature. And the cops’ response was, “Maybe he was just doing research on white supremacists. /shrug”

@GulliverFoyle

I don’t think anyone here is saying it began with Trump. We’re saying it’s escalating and he’s rabidly helping it do so.

Right, absolutely. I just didn’t want to give the impression that I thought law enforcement ignoring white supremacist terrorism was somehow a new thing. It’s a constant problem made so much worse by the fact that there’s an explosion of hate crimes under Trump.