I am very proud of Senator Tim Kaine D VA and +Senator Mark Warner D VA for joining other US senators in denouncing the increase in hate crimes and domestic terrorism and calling on ag fotze jeff sessions to dedicate the necessary Justice Department resources to investigate all American hate groups and the hate crimes and domestic terrorism they promote and commit. Here is the press release of the senator's letter followed by information on all hate groups and their activities from the Southern Poverty Law Center / SPLC.....
WARNER, KAINE URGE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO MAKE FIGHTING HATE CRIMES A MAJOR PRIORITY
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined a group of 25 Senators urging Attorney General Jeff Sessions to make combating hate crimes a major focus at the U.S. Department of Justice and request full funding for the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service and Civil Rights Division. This week, there was a bomb threat made at a Jewish Day School in Fairfax and a threatening note sent to a mosque in Falls Church.
“We write to urge you to make combating hate crimes a major focus at the Department of Justice and prioritize funding for the protection of civil rights as you evaluate budget priorities. As you have no doubt seen, there has been an alarming increase in bias-motivated violence in our country. Many members of racial, ethnic and religious minority communities, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, live in very real fear for their safety. They are scared, and it is incumbent upon you as our nation’s chief law enforcement officer to demonstrate to them and all Americans that discrimination and violence against any individual because of who they are, how they worship, or who they love will not be tolerated in our country,” the Senators wrote.
In addition to Sens. Warner and Kaine, the letter was signed by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Pat Leahy (D-VT), Edward Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
“We urge you to include full funding for the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service and Civil Rights Division, both as you work with Congress to address funding for the Department of Justice for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2017, and as you develop your Fiscal Year 2018 budget request. The Community Relations Service oversees a force of professional mediators and trainers charged with bringing together communities in conflict to help them enhance their ability through local, independent mechanisms to prevent and resolve existing and future concerns. The Civil Rights Division leads the Department’s efforts to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, and enforce federal civil rights and hate crimes laws. Together, these components of the Department play a critical role in addressing discrimination and bias-motivated crime in our country,” wrote the Senators. “We also believe it is imperative that you reaffirm the Department’s commitment to work with state and local officials in prosecuting hate crimes, in working with state and local jurisdictions to improve their assessment and reporting of such crimes, and to prosecute such crimes at the federal level when appropriate.”
A copy of the letter is available here.
SPLC HATE MAP (click to see map)
Rise of Hate Groups
The SPLC has documented an explosive rise in the number of hate groups since the turn of the century, driven in part by anger over Latino immigration and demographic projections showing that whites will no longer hold majority status in the country by around 2040. The rise accelerated in 2009, the year President Obama took office, but declined after that, in part because large numbers of extremists were moving to the web and away from on-the-ground activities. In the last two years, in part due to a presidential campaign that flirted heavily with extremist ideas, the hate group count has risen again. Read our most recent report or see a full list of active hate groups.
HATE MAP NATIONAL NUMBERS
197% Increase in total number of anti-Muslim hate groups up from 2015. Read more about anti-Muslim groups.
663 Total number of anti-government ‘patriot’ groups in 2016.
130 Total number of Ku Klux Klan groups in 2016. Active KKK Groups.
193 Total number of Black Separatist groups in 2015. Read more about Black Separatist groups.
HATEWATCH
Hatewatch monitors and exposes the activities of the American radical right.
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