Washington DC – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released their annual hate crimes report following the release of FBI data on hate crimes committed against minorities, SALDEF’s Executive Director Kiran Kaur Gill put out this statement.
“The 2018 Hate Crime Statistics, released by the FBI earlier this week shows that hate crimes continue to be a threat to minorities throughout the nation and showed a marked increase in hate crimes committed against Sikhs,” said SALDEF Executive Director Kiran Kaur Gill. “This marked increase reinforces the commitment by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education to broaden Sikh Awareness, continue to partner with law enforcement to ensure accurate reporting, proper identifications and swift investigations, and to continue to advocate for new legislation.”
The 2018 FBI Hate Crime statistics reported a total of 60 incidents against Sikhs, while in 2017 the total incidents against Sikhs reported were 20. SALDEF has been tracking “reported” hate and bias-motivated incidents against the Sikh American community for nearly two decades. The more than tripled attacks in 2018 further illustrates that bias-motivated attacks and violence against our community poses a significant and increasing problem.
“Underreporting continues to be a significant issue that needs to be addressed,” said Ms. Gill. “The report indicates that over 80% of local agencies and departments reported no hate crimes at all in their jurisdictions. This coupled with the general trends of underreporting in the Sikh American community, show that the report is merely showing the tip of the iceberg as to violence targeting the Sikh American Community across the Country.”
SALDEF is working with the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) and the FBI on ways to combat this problem, including serving on the DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council subcommittee. Through the subcommittee we are pushing for stronger hate crime legislation and legislation to combat domestic terrorism.
Hate crimes are an escalating issue for Sikhs across the country and the FBI report confirms the growing unease among many Sikh communities. SALDEF urges all Sikh Americans continue to be diligent in reporting hate crimes; underreporting and lack of adjudication will only exacerbate the issue. If you or someone you know has an incident to report please tell us by filling out this form, emailing info@saldef.org or calling 202-393-2700.