Hate Crimes

Man Charged in Alleged Threats to Human Rights Campaign After Nashville Shooting

A Maryland man has been charged by federal authorities with making threats of violence to the D.C.-based LGBTQ organization Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in a March 28th voice mail, a day after the killing of six persons at a school in Nashville. Nashville police initially said the shooter, Audrey Hale, was a 28-year-old woman, and later said Hale was transgender, according to Hale's social media profile where he used masculine pronouns. It has not yet been confirmed how Hale identified.

The HRC is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization in the U. S. It "envisions a world where every member of the LGBTQ+ family has the freedom to live their truth without fear, and with equality under the law. We empower our 3 million members and supporters to mobilize against attacks on the most marginalized people in our community."

Since the shooting, some conservative commentators and Republican politicians have cited reports about the shooter’s gender identity in voicing anti-trans sentiments. The voice mail left for the HRC, which federal authorities said was traced to 34-year-old Adam Michael Nettina, of West Friendship, Maryland, used anti-trans rhetoric. Most criminal justice experts report that transgender people are rarely the shooters in mass killings, which are overwhelmingly carried out by men. Multiple studies have shown that trans people are more likely to be victims of violence than others.

In the threatening message to the HRC, the caller said many things that federal authorities said they believed were referring to the Nashville shooting and the shooter’s gender identity, according to court documents. Some threats, laden with profanity, made reference to specific acts of violence. Federal authorities filed a criminal complaint against Nettina on March 31st, and he was arrested later that evening, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Maryland. A detention hearing was held on on April 7th. If convicted, Nettina could face up to five years in federal prison.

A HRC spokesperson's statement said that the organization got two threatening voice mails late in March, and that it is “grateful to law enforcement for acting so quickly to keep our community safe.”

*****

Read the April 4, 2023 Washington Post article.

 

Antisemitic Flyers Distributed in Virginia Beach on July 24th

The Anti-Defamation League says the flyers came from a loose network of people connected by their antisemitic beliefs.

Some Virginia Beach residents on Sunday morning found flyers with antisemitic rhetoric in their front yards. They had names and pictures of Disney executives and political figures with antisemitic messages and images on it.

Meredith Weisel with the Anti-Defamation League said the flyers came from a group called the Goyim Defense League, "a loose network of individuals connected by their antisemitism" that has done "campaigns like this on and off over the last few years." Weisel said the group did 74 anti-Semitic propaganda incidents in 2021 in 17 states. In the past weekend, flyers like the ones in Virginia Beach were distributed in Richmond and other states.

Rabbi Roz Mandelberg with Ohef Sholom Temple said some of her congregants received the flyer and were very upset. Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer said the government was aware of the flyers and the Virginia Beach Police Department is trying to find who dropped the flyers off.

If you receive one of the antisemitic flyers or any other hateful flyers, Weisel said you can report it anonymously to the Anti-Defamation League.

Source: Read the July 26th Channel 13 Now (WVEC-TV Norfolk) news article.

 LARGEST ANNUAL SUMMIT ON ANTISEMITISM AND HATE WILL BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 10TH

Never is Now  In the midst of increasing incidents of hate across the world, this Summit organized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is crucially important. Attendees will tackle crucial conversations, engage with extraordinary experts, leaders, and visionaries - and be inspired to take immediate action that will create lasting change in your community and beyond. Through meaningful dialogue, education and interpersonal connections, we will continue the fight against antisemitism, hate and bias in all its forms—together. The only voice missing is yours.

REGISTER HERE

ADL TO HOLD CONCERT AGAINST HATE

Kennedy Center Evening of Music, Community and Celebration This November, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) will hold an ADL In Concert Against Hate at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. It will be an in-person night of music, community and celebration packed with spectacular, can’t-miss performances from acclaimed stars and featuring the internationally renowned National Symphony Orchestra. Through storytelling and song, the audience will be introduced to real-life heroes and celebrate their extraordinary acts of courage and compassion in the face of bigotry and hate. LEARN MORE AND BUY TICKETS

CAIR-Massachusetts Releases New Report Documenting 1,000+ Calls for Civil Rights Assistance Since 2016

In its just-released 2021 civil rights report, Protecting Our Community: 2021 Civil Rights Report, the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, found that there were more than 1,000 calls to CAIR-MA for assistance from members of the Muslim community since 2016. In that year, its legal department began operations. 

CAIR-MA received 163 requests for legal assistance in 2021, a slight decrease from the 240 average of previous years. The report stated that when schools returned to in-person classes after COVID shutdowns, calls to CAIR-MA complaining about aggressive, sometimes violent, bullying of Muslims students increased significantly. In general though, assistance calls about hate crimes have continued to decrease annually, from 28 in 2017 to just nine in 2021.   

CAIR-MA Legal Director Barbara J. Dougan, Esq. commented: 

“In 2021, our chapter’s legal department received over a thousand complaints since its establishment in 2016. This is bittersweet because although we are eager to be a champion for Massachusetts Muslims when they need us, we are driven by the fact that too many people need help to secure the basic human right of freedom of religion. Massachusetts has good laws on the books.  Our state officials must be committed to enforcing them.” 

CAIR-MA prioritizes providing help in hate crimes and harassment, bullying, education discrimination, employment discrimination, FBI and police harassment, housing discrimination, prisoners’ religious freedoms, public accommodations, and travel abuses. For immigration, family law, and criminal defense, they refer callers to other lawyers or legal groups, state or federal agencies, and non-legal service providers. 

Regarding housing discrimination, CAIR-MA in 2019 filed a case with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) against a man whose religiously-based harassment forced a Muslim family from their apartment. He maliciously reported the family to the police, falsely accusing them of poisoning his dog (saying “Muslims hate dogs”), and filed an unsuccessful court care against them. In one action, he claimed that the Muslim family was monitoring his movements inside his apartment and that they wanted his large dog to bite their young children. In 2020, MCAD issued a “probable cause” finding in the family's favor leading to a 2021 settlement. The former neighbor had to pay the family for their moving expenses and emotional distress, watch a documentary on Islam, and then report about five things he had learned from the film.

CAIR’s mission is "to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding."

*****

Source: https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-massachusetts-releases-new-report-documenting-1000-calls-for-civil-rights-assistance-since-2016/, May 11, 2022.

Report Finds Big Rise in Global Anti-Semitism in 2021

According to a April 27, 2022 BBC article about the just-released report by the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Humanities, the number of anti-Semitic incidents globally significantly increased last year, particularly in nations with large Jewish populations. The study, based on dozens of studies around the world, found that the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, and Australia were among the countries with a significant rise. The major identified causal factors were radical left- and right-wing political movements and incitement on social media. The release of the report is on the same day - April 27, 2022 - as Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on this Wednesday night. Yom HaShoah commemorates the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany in Europe during World War II.

The Anti-Semitism Worldwide Report 2021 analyzed information from law enforcement entities, mass media, and Jewish organisations as well as literally dozens of studies from many countries. It found that:

• In the US, which has the largest Jewish population other than Israel, the number of anti-Jewish hate crimes recorded in New York and Los Angeles were about double that of 2020.
• In the UK, recorded physical assaults against Jews increased by 78% compared with the previous year.
• German police-recorded anti-Semitic incidents increased 29% from 2020, and by 49% compared with 2019.
• French recorded anti-Semitic incidents increased by roughly 75% compared with 2020.
• A leading Canadian Jewish group reported that August, 2021, set a 40-year high in the number and extent of anti-Semitic physical violence.
• Australia had a significant increase in recorded anti-Semitic incidents, with 88 in May, 2021, which was the highest ever monthly amount.

The report also said the increases were partially because of negative reactions to May 2021's fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. During that time, Israel and the militants fought for 11 days, killing 261 people in Gaza and 14 in Israel

In the report, social media was especially blamed for pervasively "spreading lies and incitement" leading to increased anti-Semitic incidents: "The data raise concerns regarding the utility of legislation and agreements reached with social media companies on banning anti-Semitic expressions from their platforms. The gravest concern is the dark web, which shelters extremists and where anti-Semitic content is freely and openly spread." The dark web is only accessible with special browsing software.

Also cited as a factor in the increases were the great increases and spread of conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 pandemic. "Right at the outset of the pandemic in 2020, conspiracy theories began to sprout around the world, blaming the Jews and Israel for spreading the virus," the report said, adding "The lockdowns, which glued people to their screens at home, contributed significantly to popularising toxic anti-Semitic discourse on social networks. In 2021, when the lockdowns were gradually eased, anti-Semites returned to the streets."

*****

Source: BBC Middle East News. April 27, 2022. "Anti-Semitism: Dramatic rise in 2021, Israeli report says." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-61228552.