According to a recent study, crimes against Muslims have risen in Los Angeles County.
According to a recent study, crimes against Muslims have risen in Los Angeles County.
LOS ANGELES (Diya TV) — A Sept. 29 report released by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission revealed that there was a significant increase in hate crimes in 2015.
The increase comes following a seven-year downward trend, according to the report.
In Los Angeles County specifically, hate crimes jumped 24 percent — from 390 to 483 cases — in 2015. Statewide, there was a 10 percent increase of hate crimes in 2015, it added. The crimes, categorized by race, sexual orientation, gender and religion, increased across the board, including a hike in crimes targeting members of the Asian American community, it said.
Crimes targeting the Asian American community tripled to 18, mostly targeting people of Chinese origin. Additionally, anti-Muslim crimes rose from three in 2014 to 19 in 2015. The majority of the crimes came in the wake of the Paris, France, and San Bernardino, Calif., terror attacks, according to the report.
Responding to the report, civil rights organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles said, “We are troubled to see seven years of declining hate activity reversed last year, and in particular to see a jump in both anti-Muslim and anti-Chinese hate crimes.”
It added, “At the same time, we are not necessarily surprised. History has taught us that global events and political rhetoric directly impact hate activity. In 2015, we witnessed rising hostility towards China on trade and economic issues and the tragic attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, as well as presidential campaign rhetoric that both targeted China as an enemy and demonized Muslims as a community.”
“We urge our community to be vigilant of such attacks and to report any suspected hate crimes to law enforcement,” the organization concluded.
