FBI: Hate Crimes Against Muslims Up By 67 percent In 2015

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November 14th, 2016

Amina Ismail, left, Fatima Amaziane, center, and Dalia Abdallah hold signs during a news conference in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. The news conference was called to express opposition to hate crimes and rhetoric, particularly in light of a recent attack in the neighborhood that police are investigating as a hate crime. Advocacy groups believe there has been a spike in anti-Muslim incidents across the United States in recent weeks that can be linked to last week’s mass shooting in California and the inflammatory rhetoric of Donald Trump and other Republican presidential candidates. And they say that Muslims are fearful the backlash could lead to further harassment and violence. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Seth Wenig / Associated Press

The FBI says the number of hate crimes reported to police increased by about 6.7 percent last year, led largely by a 67 percent surge in crimes against Muslims.

The reporting period covers calendar year 2015, and includes the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. Civil rights groups had raised concerns about an anti-Muslim backlash in the U.S. even before the attacks.

According to the data released Monday, there were 257 incidents of anti-Muslim bias in 2015, compared to 184 incidents in 2014. The number is second only to the surge in hate crimes following the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

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