on Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has published its report on “hate crimes” committed in the United States for the year 2017. These “hate crimes,” cover a wide range of criminal offences ranging from insults to homicides, through the degradation, assaults, or harassment. Some 7175 attacks based on the color of skin, origin, religion, sexuality, gender or disability have been reported to the police in 2017 against 6121 in 2016, says the federal agency.
These 7175 crimes involve 8493 victims, according to the FBI. 5060 of them have been targeted because of their skin colour or their origin, 1749 because of their religion, 1338 because of their sexual orientation, 160 because of their disability. Among the key elements, it is to be noted that the first victims of racist attacks are african-americans (48.6 per cent) and that the first victims of attacks based on religion are the jews (58.1 per cent)
“A call to act,”
These 7175 attacks constitute the highest figure since 2008 and the increase for the third year in a row, for all the categories. The FBI does not advance any explanation for this increase, but notes that more agencies have traced figures in 2017 than previously. “This report is a call for action”, commented in a press release the minister of Justice acting Matthew Whitaker, “particularly troubled” by the rise of anti-semitism.
The publication of these data comes a little more than two weeks after the worst attack from the anti-semitic history of the United States. On 27 October, a gunman has shot dead twelve worshippers in a synagogue in Pittsburgh (north-east). The president, Donald Trump had then been accused of exacerbating tensions in american society, with its diatribes inflamed. On the sidelines of a visit to Pittsburgh, the 1,500 protesters had asked him to appease his speech.
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