Attorney General Michael Mukasey didn't take much time to get active once appointed to his new gig. His Justice Department indicted Barry Bonds within about a week, while the past Justice Department leadership had the case without any action for over four years. Muskasey experiences a Washington DC march calling for his department to do more in addressing hate crimes and racial injustice ... and three days later his FBI releases a report showing that hate crimes rose nearly 8 percent last year.
The problematic thing is that the noose incidents reported in the last half of 2006 at Jena High School are not included in the report. It makes you wonder if the statistics are understated.
An analysis of the data shows that hate crimes increased by 8% in 2006 with anti-gay hate crimes up by 15.5%. The information was collected from police departments across the country (which might explain why the Jena statistics aren't in the report ... Jena legal system isn't known for doing the right thing). Police departments reported 7,722 incidents targeting people or property because of race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin and mental or physical disability.
More than half of those crimes were motivated by racial prejudice, the report stated.
"The FBI report confirms what we have been saying for many months about the severe increase in hate crimes," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who organized the Washington DC march. "What is not reported, however, is the lack of prosecution and serious investigation by the Justice Department to counter this increase in hate crimes." Sharpton called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights leaders to discuss this enforcement.
The problematic thing is that the noose incidents reported in the last half of 2006 at Jena High School are not included in the report. It makes you wonder if the statistics are understated.
An analysis of the data shows that hate crimes increased by 8% in 2006 with anti-gay hate crimes up by 15.5%. The information was collected from police departments across the country (which might explain why the Jena statistics aren't in the report ... Jena legal system isn't known for doing the right thing). Police departments reported 7,722 incidents targeting people or property because of race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin and mental or physical disability.
More than half of those crimes were motivated by racial prejudice, the report stated.
"The FBI report confirms what we have been saying for many months about the severe increase in hate crimes," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who organized the Washington DC march. "What is not reported, however, is the lack of prosecution and serious investigation by the Justice Department to counter this increase in hate crimes." Sharpton called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights leaders to discuss this enforcement.
