The number of reported hate crimes in the US has increased in 2021, according to new FBI data.



CNN

Reported hate crimes in the U.S. increased by 11.6% in 2021, according to new FBI data, although agency reporting remains incomplete.

According to the FBI, 12,411 people were victims of hate crimes in 2021: 64.5% of them were reportedly victims because of their race or ethnicity, 15.9% because of their sexual orientation, and 14.1% – because of their religion. The number of reported hate crimes increased from 8,120 in 2020 to 9,065 in 2021.

“We won’t stop there: we continue to work with state and local law enforcement agencies across the country to increase hate crime reporting to the FBI,” Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a Justice Department statement. “Hate crimes and the devastation they cause in communities have no place in this country. The Department of Justice is using all the tools and resources at our disposal to combat bias-motivated violence in all its forms.”

In December, the FBI released its 2021 annual hate crime statistics, but said many law enforcement agencies failed to submit hate crime reports to the new National Incident-Based Reporting System.

However, some states collect their own data on reported hate crimes, from which the FBI was able to extract new, updated 2021 reporting. Not all agencies report hate crimes to NIBRS, and the full picture of hate crimes in the US remains unclear, with senior FBI officials saying hate crimes are largely unreported.

In 2021 Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum outlining an increase in resources to be used to combat the surge in hate crimes. The Department of Justice has announced several efforts to combat hate crimes, including measures to deter and stop hate crimesand states that since January 2021, more than 70 individuals have been indicted in more than 60 different cases. Language Access Coordinator at the Office of Access to Justice.