U.S. APRIL 23, 2018 / 11:05 AM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO

U.S. anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 15 percent in 2017: advocacy group

Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ

BOSTON (Reuters) - Hate crimes targeting U.S. Muslims rose 15 percent in 2017, the second year of increases, according to a study released on Monday by advocacy group the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The group recorded 300 U.S. hate crimes targeting Muslims last year, ranging from the June beating of a Muslim man in the Bronx borough of New York City by attackers who called him a terrorist to a November incident when a Muslim family’s Kansas restaurant was burned down. That was up from 260 in 2016.

CAIR attributed the increase in part to the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, particularly restrictions on immigration from Muslim-majority countries.

“There has been nothing like this ever, for the Muslim community to be regularly the punching bag of the president of the United States,” said Gadeir Abbas, an attorney with CAIR.

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