CPD reports uptick in anti-Islamic, anti-Jewish hate crimes since start of Israel-Hamas war

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Hate crimes are on the rise in the Chicago this year, and there's been an uptick in anti-Islamic and anti-Jewish hate crimes since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

The police department's hate crime dashboard on Monday shows 256 reported hate crimes so far this year, compared to 206 reports all of last year.

Since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, there have been 18 anti-Jewish hate crimes reported and seven anti-Islamic hate crimes reported.

Police said many hate crimes go un-reported, so the actual numbers are likely much higher.

Hate crimes biased against several groups have already surpassed 2022 numbers, and are the highest number of incidents reported per year since 2012:

• Anti-Black/African-American hate crimes: 65 reported incidents through October 2023 compared to 47 in 2022

• Anti-Gay (Male) hate crimes: 31 reported incidents through October 2023 compared to 25 in 2022

• Anti-Hispanic/Latino hate crimes: 25 reported incidents through October 2023 compared to 17 in 2022

• Anti-Islamic hate crimes: 15 reported incidents through October 2023 compared to 4 in 2022

• Anti-Lesbian hate crimes: 6 reported incidents through October 2023 compared to 3 in 2022

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