Attacks Against Muslims In US Spike To Highest Level Since 2001

The number of Anti-Muslim assaults targeting Islamic persons in the U.S. has surpassed the previous record level seen in 2001, the year of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a new Pew Research Center analysis finds.

U.S. assaults on Muslims increased between 2015 and 2016, with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data showing 127 anti-Muslim assaults occurred last year. The previous modern peak was 93 assaults against Muslims in 2001 and 91 having occurred in 2015. The reported victims include aggravated or simple assaults and a parallel increase has also been recorded in vandalism targeting Muslim mosques or other religious buildings.

Hate crime statistics from the FBI recorded 307 total incidents of anti-Muslim attacks in 2016, marking a 19 percent increase from 2015, which continues to build on the much larger 67 percent increase in anti-Muslim attacks recorded between 2014 and 2015. A Pew survey conducted throughout the first half of 2017 found that three-quarters (75 percent) of Muslim-Americans say there is “a lot” of discrimination against Muslims living in the United States.

Half of Muslim adults living in America (50 percent) say it has become more difficult to practice their faith in the U.S., with 10 percent directly attributing the problems to discrimination, racism and prejudice. Almost one-quarter (23 percent) of Muslim-Americans say racism and discrimination are the most important problems facing Americans Muslims today.

Property damage crime directed at Muslims also rose from 70 cases in 2015 to 92 cases last year, FBI data shows.

The FBI’s data draws from 15,000 law enforcement agencies throughout the country that voluntarily participate in the gathering of statistics. Pew notes that such annual statistics often “undercount” the number of hate crimes in a given year.

The NYPD is currently seeking a suspect caught on surveillance cameras destroying property at two separate Brooklyn mosques. And eight people were killed and nearly a dozen more were injured on Oct. 31 in Lower Manhattan as a vehicle driven by Sayfullo Habibullaevich Saipov plowed through cyclists and pedestrians. Police reported that the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he stepped out of the vehicle and was shot by police in the abdomen before being taken into custody. It was the deadliest attack in New York City since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.