With violent acts of hate rising in the United States, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced today the Justice Department has launched a new website consolidating information for reporting hate crimes.
Rosenstein made the announcement during a roundtable discussion with law enforcement officials following the deadly shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
The man arrested in connection to the shooting appeared to have a history of anti-Semetic rhetoric on social media and is being charged with federal hate crimes.
The new website will be a “one-stop portal” with information for law enforcement, prosecutors and the general public to learn about all the resources available to report hate crimes, Rosenstein said. The new site is part of an ongoing effort within the Department of Justice to expand protections against hate crimes and to bridge gaps in hate crime reporting.
Last week a white man with a history of violence shot and killed two African-Americans, seemingly at random, at a Kentucky Kroger store following a failed attempt to barge into a black church.
Then mail bombs were sent to people who’d been criticized by Trump, the suspect a man who had railed against Democrats and minorities with hate-filled messages online.
On Saturday, a man shouting anti-Semitic slurs opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 people attending Jewish services. The suspect was a white supremacist.
Those three incidents in 72 hours shared one thing: hate.
In 2016, 88 percent of agencies that report hate crimes to the FBI reported zero hate crimes that year, Rosenstein said.
He added that statistic demonstrates a lack of awareness in how to report rather than a lack of hate crimes.
Rosenstein talked at length during his briefing of the United States’ history of protecting religious freedoms, mentioning a letter by George Washington assuring the Jewish community in Newport, Rhode Island, at the time of the nascent country’s freedom of religion.
“The tragic attack on the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue just two days ago serves as a stark reminder of the need to protect all Americans against hate crimes,” Rosenstein said. “In mourning today, we also rededicate ourselves to our commitment to preventing hate crimes.”