The number of hateful racist attacks on Blacks and Muslims in America has demonstrably increased during the Trump campaign and his election to the presidency. The attacks have ranged from signs and verbal abuse to physical attacks on people and communities that go against the Trump intolerance doctrine. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released information that shows just how bad the situation is getting. There have been at least 300 hate-related incidents that have occurred since Trump won the election. In addition, the FBI reports that hate crimes against Muslims have increased 67 percent since the terrorist attack on 9/11, in a period that spans 2014-2015. According to the SPLC, many of these incidents have occurred on school and college campuses. Here are just some of the most recent hate-related incidents that have been in the news:
In New York City, a dinner at the French restaurant Bar Tabac in Boerum Hill turned into a violent encounter with a Trump supporter. According to police and witness statements, two women were eating dinner and discussing Trump and the recent elections. A White couple was seated next to them and took offense to their private conversation. The man asked restaurant staff to move the women away from them and the staff refused. Instead, they moved the man and his wife to another area and gave them free food and drinks. They told restaurant manager Jonas Leon, “We’re really mad. Really angry.”
The manager goes on to state, “In the end, I moved the couple. They finished eating, but they were still arguing.” The couple got up after their meal, still angry and left the restaurant. It was then that witnesses state the man re-entered the eatery and rushed one of the two women and punched her. According to witness Jennifer Love, “All of a sudden, I hear gasps and a ruckus. Everyone is just standing there frozen and someone says, “He punched her.”
Leon stated to media, “I tried to keep him to let the cops catch him, but he was really aggressive with me — he said he could kill her.” The assailant fled the restaurant before police arrived and is still on the loose. The victims declined medical treatment and the restaurant gave them complimentary food and drinks.
In Washington, D.C., an attempt at community outreach by a church led to disgusting vandalism. The Episcopal Church of Our Savior in Silver Spring, Maryland announced it was offering Spanish language services and someone took offense. On Sunday, parishioners arrived at the church to find a banner that read, “Trump nation, Whites only.” The words were also written on an exterior wall of the church. Shocked church members took down the banner and replaced it with another one that reads “Love Wins.”
At an anti-Trump rally in Columbus, Ohio, a protester was viciously attacked by an Ohio State University student. On Monday, a video of Shane Michael Stanton shows the student pushing a man identified as Timothy Adams down a flight of stairs at a mall. Adams was delivering a speech when the attack occurred and his bullhorn and glasses were shattered when he hit the tile floor. People surrounding the stairs immediately reacted in an outbreak of violence that was broken up by police officers at the scene. Stanton was arrested and placed under indefinite suspension from Ohio State, according to the university. After the arrest, Adams continued his speech to the gathered crowd at the Ohio Union on the campus of Ohio State University.
At the University of Michigan, a campus safety alert was issued after a Muslim student told police a white male demanded she remove her hijab or he would “set her on fire with a lighter.”
Church members at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Indiana discovered graffiti on the walls of the church. A swastika, “Heil Trump” and “F– Church” were spray-painted on the walls of the church. The church may have been targeted because it performs same-sex weddings.
