Loretta Lynch: 'a pernicious thread' links rise in hate crimes after US election

[inanna]

Source: The Guardian

Monday 12 December 2016 20.45 GMT

US attorney general Loretta Lynch spoke at a mosque in Virginia on Monday in an attempt to calm fears about rising hate crimes in the wake of the election, and the future of the Department of Justice under the Trump administration.

<snip>

“There is a pernicious thread that connects the act of violence against a woman wearing a hijab to the assault on a transgender man to the tragic deaths of nine innocent African-Americans during a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina,” she said. “There is a thread that links all of those and when one of us is threatened all of us are threatened.”

Lynch’s visit comes on the heels of the FBI’s release of hate crime statistics for 2015, which found that hate crimes overall had risen by 6% since 2014 and there was a 67% increase in hate crimes against Muslim Americans specifically – the highest spike since 9/11.

<snip>

Lynch did not name the Trump administration but she acknowledged fears that some have expressed about the future.

“I know that many Americans are feeling uncertainty and anxiety as we witness the recent eruption of divisive rhetoric and hateful deeds,” she said. “I know that many Americans are wondering if they are in danger simply because of what they look like or where they pray. I know that some are wondering whether the progress we have made at such great cost, and over so many years, is in danger of sliding backwards.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/12/loretta-lynch-hate-crimes-election-muslim-trump-administration

[ananda]

1. Toothless, fangless justice system.

Just a lot of talk.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Agree one thousand percent.

Until one of these perps are sent to jail,it is not going to stop. It appears to be used for Political gain by the Right Wing Pols.

[byronius]

3. Saturday night in my home town, an Asian-looking man was attacked by an off-duty airman.

Shoved and told to 'go back to his fucking country'.

Unfortunately for the attacker, he was in DAVIS.

He was immediately arrested by a Davis cop and has since been charged with a hate crime and battery. So, dishonorable discharge and jail time awaits this stupid fellow.

I kinda hope something like that happens in front of me. I've got all this pent-up anger to vent. And vent it righteously I would.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/crime-fire-courts/davis-police-make-hate-crime-arrest/

[montana_hazeleyes]

4. There is more racism and other hate in Ca.

than a lot of people think. Some areas more than others of course.

But now, trump has emboldened these haters so damn much and I feel it will get worse.