Image C’tsy: Mandel Ngan/AFP

Dated : September 3, 2021

New York, NY

On August 30, 2021, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a hate crime statistics report for the year 2020.  Hate Crime Statistics, 2020.  This report was compiled from over 15,000 cases of bias motivated crimes reported by various law enforcement agencies across the country.  Disturbingly, the number of Anti-Sikh crimes rose again this year, even as fewer agencies reported hate crime incidents in their jurisdictions to the FBI.

The annual FBI Hate Crime Statistics is a compilation of data gathered using the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program that collects bias-related crimes in the United States.  In 2020, the FBI reported that 61.9% of victims of hate crimes were targeted because of either their race, ethnicity, or ancestry and 13.4% were targeted because of religious bias.

Last year saw a 6.1% increase in hate crime reports. The FBI data gathered on anti-Sikh bias crimes shows that hate crimes against Sikhs have increased by 44.9% since 2019. For example, the 2019 Hate Crime Statistics showed 56 reported anti-Sikh offenses.   In the 2020 FBI data, the number of anti-Sikh hate crimes jumped to 72 offenses.  (Hate Crime Statistics, 2020).

Image C’tsy: Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer

Manvider Singh, Director of Advocacy at UNITED SIKHS, cautions that “again, this year, the statistics may not represent the full spectrum of what’s really happening in our communities because not all law enforcement agencies report hate crimes to the FBI.  This increase may be due to more people reporting because of Congressional action in the last year and increased public awareness of the problem.  Despite fewer law enforcement agencies reporting in 2020, the Statistics show that anti-Sikh hate crimes are not going down.  

According to law enforcement, one challenge to reporting these crimes is defining them. Another is that in some jurisdictions, prosecutors decide whether a crime falls under the hate crimes statute and they do not report.

“Nothing short of zero hate crimes is acceptable but we hope to see these incidents go down, not up,”  Mr. Singh stated.

UNITED SIKHS continues to help advocate for victims of hate crimes. If you believe you have experienced a hate crime, contact us at contact@unitedsikhs.org.