The number of hate crimes in the United States in 2020 reached its highest level since 2008, data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show on Monday, August 30.
According to these figures, compiled by the US Federal Police from data from more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies in the country, 7,759 hate crimes, defined in the United States as physical assault, damage to property or other crimes committed because of the victim’s ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or even political opinions were identified in 2020 in the United States, an increase of 6% compared to 2019.
The #FBI just released Hate Crime Statistics, 2020, a compilation of data about bias-motivated incidents throughout… https://t.co/jI3WZqyrBz
Of the 7,426 recorded offenses against individuals, and not against property, 53.4% were acts of intimidation, 27.6% involved simple assaults and 18.1% assaults with bodily harm. Twenty-two murders and 19 rapes have been categorized as hate crimes. The number of hate crimes targeting African Americans has increased from 1,930 to 2,755 and the number targeting Asian Americans from 158 to 274.
The Asian community “under siege”
After the assault on Capitol Hill on January 6, the US Department of Justice warned of the threat posed by white supremacist groups to US security.
At the same time, the number of reported assaults against Asian Americans has increased, fueled, according to many observers, by ex-President Donald Trump’s verbal attacks on China during the emergence of SARS. -CoV-2, responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Asian community has long preferred to remain discreet, but, faced with the multiplication of attacks, the young generation now deems it necessary to be heard.
In May, the United States Attorney General, Merrick Garland, issued new guidelines to urge local police forces to further report hate crimes to the FBI.
