FBI: Hate Crime Went Up 6.8 Percent In 2015; Anti-Muslim Incidents Surge To Second Highest Ever

Criminal hate crime incidents reported to police increased 6.8 percent in the United States in 2015, according to official FBI data released today. There were 5,850 incidents in 2015, compared to 5479 reported in 2014, the widely anticipated report showed.

Anti-Muslim Hate Crime Surges 67 Percent
In a period of heightened anti-Islamic prejudice, increased Salafist Jihadist terror attacks, and political vitriol, hate crimes against Muslims surged 67 percent from 154 in 2014 to 257 in 2015, the second highest number on record since national reporting commenced in 1992. In 2001, the year of the 9/11 attacks anti-Muslim hate crime peaked at 481, and had been in a range of 105 to 160, until 2015’s breakout. Anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2015 showed a significant increase in the proportion of hate crimes from the previous year as well. Anti-Muslim hate crimes accounted for 4.4 precent of all hate crimes in 2015, up from 2.8 percent for 2014.