By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Reported hate crimes against Muslims increased a whopping 67% in 2015, according to official FBI data released Sunday.
Overall, hate crimes reported to police spiked 6.8%.
The number of reported hate crimes targeting Muslims jumped from 154 in 2014 to 257 in 2015, marking the second highest number since the federal government began recording hate crimes in 1992.
The highest on record was 481 in 2011, when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred.
More than half of the overall hate crimes – 3,310 – involved race. More than 1,050 incidents targeted people due to sexual orientation.
But those numbers are likely only a fraction of the actual hate crimes committed across the country because many police agencies didn’t submit any incidents for the past six year.
Many observers believe hate crimes will spike in 2016 because of the divisive rhetoric of Donald Trump.
