A day after the U.S. election, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, began tracking reports of hate crimes made to the center, in the news and on social media and found that by Monday there were more than 300 reports of physical or verbal altercations and vandalism.
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A statement from the group to Think Progress Monday said such a surge in hate crimes was about the amount they usually see in a five to six-month period.
“Since Donald Trump won the election we’ve seen an alarming number of hate-based incidents occur throughout the nation, some of which are no doubt stemming from Trump’s hate-filled campaign,” read a statement from the SPLC sent to ThinkProgress. “We’ve collected more than 315 such incidents since the election — truly a frightening number.”
In a press release Friday, the group said that anti-Black and anti-immigrant incidents “were far and away the most reported with anti-Muslim being the third most common.” The group listed a few of the reported incidents involving Black people and immigrants as well as Muslims.
“My 12-year-old daughter is African American. A boy approached her and said, 'now that Trump is president, I'm going to shoot you and all the blacks I can find.' We reported it to the school who followed up with my daughter and the boy appropriately,” a parent reported directly to the SPLC according to their website.
One woman told the group that she “was standing at a red light waiting to cross the street. A black truck with three white men pulled up to the red light. One of them yelled, 'Fuck your Black life!' The other two began to laugh. One began to chant 'Trump!' as they drove away."
Another incident saw a University of Oklahoma student sending racist messages, including some from a source called "Trump's Disciples," to Black freshmen at the University of Pennsylvania.
The group also said that "Build a wall" was chanted at a Washington state school, "If you aren't born here, pack your bags" was shouted in one classroom, according to a student. "Get out spic" was said in the halls.
Most of the reported hate crimes have “disturbingly” occurred in high schools, SPLC warned. "It appears that the election results might have pushed some schools to a boiling point."
In another statement Monday, the monitoring group said hate crimes against Muslims surged by 67 percent during 2015, according to new government figures.
“The rise, far higher than in any other major category of hate crimes, came during a year marked by news of atrocities by the Islamic State and Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric.”
Police in New York were also investigating Monday two cases involving swastikas drawn or painted in public spaces around the city. Surveillance video showed a person spray-painting a large swastika in front of a 78-year-old man's home in Brooklyn Saturday in a predominantly Jewish area.
Responding to a question about the surge in hate crimes following his win last Tuesday, Trump said he had not heard of any attacks but that he was "so saddened" to hear about the attacks by his supporters. "I say, 'Stop it.' If it — if it helps," Trump told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview.