(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/25/2024) The number of hate crimes nationally tend to be higher during presidential cycles, with the vast majority of the hate crime being perpetrated by white supremacist and white nationalist groups, based on information shared at a Department of Civil Rights discussion Thursday.
From 2019-22, the year with the highest number of reported hate crimes in Michigan was 2020 with 453, 7 percent more than the 422 reported in 2022. In 2016, the number was 583, an 18 percent increase from the year before. In 2008, Michigan reported 726 hate crimes.
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Fighting Hate and Bias Program Manager Carter Wynne and Senior Director Nadia Aziz said hate crimes in the United States have been steadily climbing since former President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, despite fewer law enforcement agencies reporting data to the FBI.
This year there is a concern that the Israel and Gaza war, along with the Ukraine and Russian war could exacerbate the hate crimes committed, especially against Jewish and Muslim populations, which have already increased.
"The word 'hate' in this context does not mean rage, anger, or general dislike. Rather it means bias against people or groups with specific characteristics that are defined by law," said Western District of Michigan Assistant U.S. Attorney Kalen Pruss.
Pruss said the federal law covers certain crimes motivated by hate of someone's race, color, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, family status, sex, gender and gender identity, and can cover crimes committed because of a perceived membership in one of those groups.
As an example, she pointed to the attacks against the Sikh population after Sept. 11, 2001.
She said while the First Amendment does give people the right to say many things, it has limits, especially when the speech being said advocates or threatens violence or encourages people to commit crimes, regardless of if the crime is committed or not.
Pruss encouraged reporting anything that could be considered a hate crime, because it could help during an investigation down the road and could serve as evidence that a crime was motivated by hate or bias.
"In short, it's our job to figure out whether the First Amendment applies, not yours," she said.
Aziz said there were several things that could be done to help curb the increase in hate crimes in the United States.
The first remedy fell on social media companies deplatforming people pushing hate speech.
"Social media platforms need to be accountable for the role they play in increased hate. Platforms need to ensure that they're resourcing content moderation teams to appropriately meet the challenge of increased hate," Aziz said.
She said people need to confront and address white supremacist violence in a way that doesn't criminalize communities of color, minorities or women.
"It's really important that we keep hate crime enforcement in the civil rights space," she said.
The third portion would be for Congress to pass laws making hate crime reporting mandatory for law enforcement.
"We need to be able to see what communities are experiencing on the ground," she said.
Lastly, she said it was important for public officials to speak out against hate and put a name to it.
"Hate crimes are message crimes and to help counter the impacts they have we really need to counter the messages that perpetrators are seeking to send," Aziz said. "Anti-Black racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, transphobia. All forms of hate should be excluded from campaign tactics," she said.
