Washington, DC: On September 23, 2024 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released their latest US-wide hate crime data.
Though the number of anti-Sikh hate incidents is down from the all-time high reported in 2022, Sikhs remained the third most-targeted group in hate incidents targeting specific religious identities (behind anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents).
The overall number of hate incidents, offenses, and victims of all types of hate has increased since 2022—and since this data was collected during the calendar year of 2023, it does not fully reflect the presumed uptick in violent hate following increasing national tensions around world events beginning in October 2023 or the contentious 2024 presidential election cycle.
A release issued by the Sikh Coalition notes: “[R]eporting, as ever, remains a key challenge in collecting this data. On a positive note, the FBI is now sourcing this data solely from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) after a years-long transition process. While this has undoubtedly made it easier for local law enforcement organizations to participate in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program, unfortunately, thousands of agencies are still reporting zero hate crimes to the FBI within their jurisdiction. This could be because of a total lack of bias-motivated crime in their areas—or it could be due to inaccurate recording, a failure to investigate or prosecute bias motives, or other such persistent issues. The Sikh Coalition continues to advocate for measures like the Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act (IRPHA) in order to motivate local law enforcement agencies to help make this dataset more representative of the scope of the problem”.
“More than 20 years after our founding during a moment of profound crisis, combating and preventing hate crimes remain core to the Sikh Coalition’s mission,” explained Mannirmal Kaur, Sikh Coalition Federal Policy Manager.
“While we are heartened by the slight decrease in the number of anti-Sikh hate incidents, we remain alarmed that Sikhs continue to be one of the most frequently targeted religious groups and concerned with the overall lack of hate crimes reporting from local law enforcement organizations. Moreover, overall, the data shows 11,862 hate crime incidents in 2023—up from 11,634 in 2022—which tells us that this work, on behalf of all marginalized communities, remains as important as ever”, she added.
“This week, members of the Sikh Coalition’s policy team will travel to Washington, DC, for the White House Initiative on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander’s Policy Summit, where one of the topics discussed will be hate crime prevention and mitigation; they will also take meetings with Capitol Hill offices to discuss policy solutions like the IRPHA”, reads the release issued by the Sikh Coalition.
“We also remain committed to ensuring that the experiences of ours and other communities regarding violent hate continue to be a part of the national dialogue, as evidenced by our work to support the (ultimately deeply problematic) hearing in the U.S. Senate last week. And finally, pro bono support for hate crime survivors remains a core part of our legal work; if you or someone you know has been targeted, reach out for help in English or Punjabi”, the statement reads further.
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