Town Manager Fired for Anti-Muslim Comments to Get $30K
Tom Kawczynski, a town manager in Maine who was fired for posting anti-Muslim comments, will receive $30,000 to avoid a lawsuit, local outlets reported. The decision was made behind closed doors in an hour-long, private meeting between Kawczynski, the town lawyer and four members of the local government, the Bangor Daily News reported. Kawczynski came […]
Hate Crimes Rise in 9 Major US Cities in 2017, Preliminary Data Show
The number of hate crimes in major U.S. cities rose for the third consecutive year last year, driven by attacks on Jews, Muslims, blacks and LGBT people, preliminary police data exclusively provided to VOA show. At least 1,056 hate crimes were committed in the nation’s nine largest cities in 2017, an increase of 18 percent […]
What We Discovered During a Year of Documenting Hate
The days after Election Day last year seemed to bring with them a rise in hate crimes and bias incidents. Reports filled social media and appeared in local news. There were the letters calling for the genocide of Muslims that were sent to Islamic centers from California to Ohio. And the swastikas that were scrawled […]
Debate: Is freedom of speech absolute?
Hate crimes are on the rise across the West, igniting debates around free speech. From arguments in the US about whether white supremacists should be given platforms to say bigoted things, to claims that free speech is under attack at universities worldwide, the issue has been hotly debated and sometimes politicised. So, should free speech […]
Quran Swimming in Pork Lard Sent to California Mosque
Police in California are investigating a hate-related incident after a Sacramento Muslim group was sent a defiled copy of the Quran, immersed in a container of pork fat. Members of the Sacramento Valley Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) received a suspicious package on June 28. Wary of opening the package, they contacted the police.
Far-Right Group Plans to Patrol Mediterranean to Turn Back Migrants
A pan-European far-right group with a history of violent direct action has charted a 422-ton ship and says it plans to confront people-smugglers and turn back migrants it finds in the waters off Libya. Humanitarian organizations say the planned intervention is a “PR provocation” by the Defend Europe group, which is part of the continent-wide, […]
Hate Crimes Against Muslims Are Surging in 2017
There were more than 940 reports of potential bias incidents involving the targeting of Muslims between April and June, according to a report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Monday. Of those, the organization determined 451 stemmed from anti-Muslim bias, which contributed to a 91 percent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes during […]
Rise Seen in Hate Crimes, Yet Reporting Methods Seen as Inadequate
By all accounts, hate crimes are rising in the United States. From an increase in the number of attacks on hijab-wearing Muslim women to threats made against Jewish community centers earlier this year, all indications suggest hate-motivated offenses are on the rise. But their true extent remains a puzzle, in part because of poor data […]
Gunmen attack mosque in France, injuring eight
July 2 (UPI) — Gunmen opened fire at a crowd of people Sunday outside of a mosque in France, injuring eight, police said. The shooting took place in Avignon, Provence, in southern France at approximately 10:30 p.m. Among the injured was a 7-year-old girl. French news site La Provence reported worshippers were leaving the mosque […]
Nabra Hassanen’s murder feeds anti-immigrant rhetoric on the conservative internet
The gruesome killing of a 17-year-old girl in Virginia this week has become fuel for political narratives on either side of the US spectrum. Nabra Hassanen was with friends outside her mosque, the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center, when a driver rode over the curb and scattered the crowd of teens.