Vainieri Huttle, Benson & Murphy Measure Condemning Hate, Bias Crimes in NJ Clears Assembly Panel

(TRENTON) – The most recent report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), released in November of 2018, revealed the number of reported hate crimes nationally in 2017 had increased 17 percent over 2016 totals, marking the first consecutive three-year annual increase and the largest single-year increase in hate crimes targeting Muslim Americans since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Condemning hate crimes and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting minorities in New Jersey, a resolution (AR-208) sponsored by Assembly Democrats Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Dan Benson and Carol Murphy was unanimously approved Thursday by the Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee.

“The latest FBI statistics show there were 495 hate crimes reported in New Jersey in 2017, a 76 percent increase from the previous year and the fourth-highest  reported in the nation. That’s unacceptable and we must condemn it in the strongest terms possible,” said Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), chair of the committee. “This issue is paramount to ensuring that all New Jerseyans, no matter who they are or how they look, feel safe in their homes, schools, places of worship, and day to day lives.

Of the 495 New Jersey hate crimes cited by the FBI, 260 were attributed to race or ethnic bias, 180 were attributed to religious bias, 51 were attributed to sexual orientation, and four were attributed to disability.

“We must stand united in condemning hate and bias in all forms and reject hate-motivated crimes as an attack on the very fabric of our society,” said Benson (D-Mercer/Middlesex). “I can state emphatically that hate has no home here in New Jersey.”

According to the “2017 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents” released by Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the trend of attacks targeting Jews has tripled since 2012. The ADL audit also describes the rise of online harassment and hate speech directed at Jewish journalists and individuals through social media. In 2018, New Jersey media outlets reported that swastikas had been found at schools and on campaign signs.

“In 2019, America should be a more accepting and tolerant place in which to live and raise children, but these startling statistics regarding a spike in hate and bias crimes would seem to indicate otherwise, even here in New Jersey,” said Murphy (D-Burlington). “I join my colleagues in condemning these heinous incidents. We cannot and will not accept crimes against anyone that are motivated by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”

An identical Senate resolution (SR-118) was also unanimously approved Thursday in a joint hearing of the Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness and Senate Law and Public Safety Committees.