The New York Times has added a depressing and unique feature to its national news coverage since the election of Donald Trump, a weekly recap of reported incidents of Trump-inspired hatred, harassment, vandalism and violence titled “This Week in Hate.”
This Week in Hate tracks hate crimes and harassment around the country since the election of Donald Trump. The Southern Poverty Law Center and other groups are keeping detailed counts of harassment and abuse. We will regularly present a selection of incidents to show the scope of the problem. This article, the first in the series, includes incidents reported in the last two weeks.
Thus far there have been four installments. This is the first, published November 29, 2016. Some of these incidents have made the national news, while others have been locally reported only. Some of the incidents have been highlighted on this site, others have not. The following is a sampling from the November 29 installment (all links are from the original article):
• In the last week, three mosques in California and one in Georgia have received letters threatening that Donald Trump “is going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews.” The letters were signed “Americans for a Better Way.”
• Last week, a passenger on a Delta flight began shouting, “Donald Trump” and asked, “We got some Hillary bitches on here?”
• In Astoria, Queens, on Nov. 17, an Arab-American Uber driver recorded a video of another driver shouting at him that “Trump is president” and “they’ll deport you soon.”
• At a Smith’s supermarket in Albuquerque, N.M., on Nov. 23, a woman began shouting Islamophobic abuse at a shopper wearing a hijab. Employees removed the shouting woman from the store, but she waited in the parking lot for the woman in the hijab to emerge. Eventually, employees escorted the woman in the hijab to her car.
From the December 6, 2016 installment:
• On Saturday, a Muslim police officer and her teenage son were accosted in Brooklyn by a man who yelled “go back to your country”and shoved the boy. The officer had received a medal in 2014 for saving a baby from a fire. A man has been charged with a hate crime in the case.
• A mosque in Providence and one in Wayland, Mass. received letters saying Donald Trump is “going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews.” The same message was sent in November to several other mosques.
• A uniformed MTA worker wearing a hijab was called a “terrorist” by a man while riding the 7 train in Manhattan. The man followed her into Grand Central Terminal and pushed her to the ground; she was treated for leg injuries.
• A swastika and the word “Trump” were found on a blackboard in a middle school classroom at the William H. Lincoln School in Brookline, Mass. last Wednesday.
From the week of December 13th, another sampling:
• The home in Moonachie, N.J., of Nikita Whitlock, a fullback for the New York Giants, was vandalized last Tuesday night with swastikas, the phrase “KKK” and the word “Trump.” Police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.
• Brandon Marshall, a Denver Broncos linebacker who had knelt during the national anthem at games this season, received a threatening letter full of racial slurs last week. “We are ‘channeling’ a devastating hard hit for you,” the sender wrote. “Something to make you an invalid in a wheel chair.” The security staff of the Broncos is investigating the letter.
• Ilhan Omar, a newly elected Minnesota state representative and the country’s first Somali-American legislator, was harassed last Tuesday by a cab driver in Washington, D.C. He called her “ISIS” and threatened to remove her hijab. Ms. Omar was in Washington to attend a planning session for Democrats at the White House.
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• A resident of Greenwood, Ind., notified police on Tuesday that a racial slur had been spray-painted on the side of his house. He had also received a note stating that his family were not welcome and that this was “Trump country.” The incident has been reported to the FBI as a possible hate crime.
The latest installment is behind a paywall but its lead describes the following series of hate and harassment incidents linked to the white supremacist and Trump fanboy, neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, which have made national news:
The FBI is reportedly reviewing the spate of harassing emails and tweets that have slammed residents of the small town of Whitefish, Mont., after the neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer put out a cyberhit on several members of the Jewish community there last week.
The call to “take action” against Jews in the small ski resort town was issued after Whitefish resident and property owner Sherry Spencer, mother of prominent white nationalist figure Richard Spencer, told the local ABC News affiliate earlier this month that mounting backlash over her son’s controversial political views had forced her to consider selling her property downtown. According to Spencer, pressure from Whitefish real estate agent Tanya Gersh and members of the local human rights group Love Lives Here caused her “financial harm.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented 1094 bias-related crimes occurring after the election, including this lovely message left at a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 21, 2016:.
“I think this is the gay church, that help gays that get kicked out of the country along with all the fricken Mexicans that are illegal that you guys are hiding illegally. I hope Trump gets ya. Trump Trump Trump. Trump Trump Trump. Trump’s gonna get your asses out of here and throw you over the wall. You dirty rotten scumbags. Hillary is a scumbag bitch. too bad waaa waaa. Hillary lost. Hillary lost. Trump’s gonna getcha and throw you over the wall.”
The audio of the person who left the message is linked here.
The SPLC is taking a “break” from covering the nationwide expressions of hatred Trump has encouraged, for the Christmas Holiday when apparently all of his supporters pause for a moment and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The Times also includes a link to resources on what to do if you see someone being harassed or abused by a Trump supporter, or if you find yourself being harassed or abused by one.