Scottish police receive thousands of reports after new hate crime law
London, UK Reuters Scottish police said on Wednesday they had received more than 7,000 online reports of offences in the first week since the introduction of a new hate crime law that opponents say could curb free speech and waste police time. The law, brought in by a devolved government controlled by the centre-left pro-independence […]
Police charge 23-year-old with hate crime at historically Black US church
United StatesRNS A 23-year-old man has been charged with trespassing and burglary after an investigation of vandalism estimated at more than $US100,000 at a church in the US state of Maryland. Jarren Alexander was taken into custody on Wednesday after an incident earlier in the month at Fowler United Methodist Church in Annapolis, police said. […]
Pittsburgh synagogue attacker found guilty of hate crimes, could face death
Reuters A jury on Friday found Robert Bowers guilty of dozens of federal hate crimes for the killing of 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history. Bowers, 50, now faces the penalty phase of his trial at the US District Court in Pittsburgh in which […]
In the US, Colorado clubgoers stop shooter who killed five in gay nightspot
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USReuters “Heroic” clubgoers fought and stopped a gunman shortly after he opened fire inside a LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing at least five people and injuring 18 others, police said on Sunday. Police identified the suspect as Anderson Lee Aldrich, a 22-year-old man, who shot at patrons with a long rifle, […]
US President Biden includes faith leaders in summit’s charge to “rise together against hate”
US United StatesRNS Citing the murders of a Sikh man and a Black churchgoer on the anniversaries of their killings, US President Joe Biden, at a White House summit Thursday, addressed hate-fuelled violence, committing to new and renewed measures to combat hate, including attacks aimed at people of faith. “There’s a throughline of hate, from […]
Hate crimes surge in Canada during pandemic
Toronto, CanadaReuters Canada has experienced a sharp rise in hate crimes targeting religion, sexual orientation and race since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released this week by Statistic Canada. Canada, which prides itself as a diverse and welcoming country for immigrants and refugees, has witnessed a 72 per cent jump in […]
Essay: Hate crimes are growing. Faith communities are uniquely positioned to combat them.
In an article first published on Religion News Service, MAUREEN O’LEARY, director of field and organising for the US-based Interfaith Alliance, looks at key role religious leaders can play in combatting hate…
Charleston church massacre looms over hate crime debate in US state of South Carolina
Columbia, South CarolinaAP South Carolina can both honor nine Black worshippers killed five years ago in a racist attack and send a message that it loves and protects all its neighbors by becoming the 48th state to pass a law with more severe penalties for hate crimes, supporters said Wednesday. A small group of House […]
Anti-Semitic crimes rose in California in 2019 – report
Los Angeles, USAP Anti-Semitic hate crimes in California rose nearly 12 per cent in 2019, including a fatal shooting at a Southern California synagogue, even as hate crimes overall declined statewide by 4.8 per cent, according to a state report released Wednesday. Hate crimes are historically under-reported and the 2019 data compiled by the state attorney […]
Asian American Christians denounce anti-Asian racism amid coronavirus
RNS The FBI released a warning last week about a potential surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. Michelle Ami Reyes was not surprised. Reyes told Religion News Service that she knows people from her church in Austin, Texas, who have been spit on. She also knows people […]