House Bipartisan Task Force Co-Chair Responds to Release of 2021 FBI Supplemental Hate Crime Statistics Report

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Kathy Manning (NC-06) released the following statement on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplemental Hate Crime Statistics 2021 report, showing a significant increase in antisemitic incidents in one year, from 683 incidents in 2020 to 817 incidents in 2021.

“I appreciate the FBI’s release of the Supplemental Hate Crime Statistics 2021 report, which will help provide Congress and the public with a more accurate picture of the hate crime landscape across the United States. This data is critical to effectively address the rise in antisemitism and in hate crimes experienced by our communities,” said Congresswoman Kathy Manning (NC-06), Co-Chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism. “The original report submitted by the FBI in December 2022 was woefully incomplete, with only 65% of law enforcement agencies providing data, giving the mistaken impression that there was a decline in hate crimes in 2021. The supplemental report demonstrates that there was a dramatic increase in hate crimes in 2021 and, in particular, an increase in antisemitic hate crimes. The mistaken conclusion reached in the original report is evidence that the lack of timely data submissions and slow compliance with the new data reporting system risks a faulty analysis by the FBI and handicaps our ability to address the rise in hate crimes and antisemitism.

“There is a clear need for more robust compliance with collection and reporting from all state and local law enforcement agencies to the FBI in a timely manner.  If the new data reporting system is perceived as too burdensome or time-consuming, a hard look should be taken at making the system easier to use or making sure law enforcement members understand the importance of using the new system to assist with the prevention of future hate crimes. 

“As Co-Chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress, the Administration, and the FBI to enhance our national data collection process so that we can best address the growing threat of hate crimes and better protect all communities from hate.”

The FBI’s supplemental data revealed that in 2021, 10,840 incidents and 12,411 related offences as being motivated by bias toward race/ethnicity/ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, or gender identity. This is the highest recorded rate of hate crime incidents in the past two decades.

The report also showed that the number of single-bias anti-Jewish hate crimes rose nearly 20% from 2020, with 817 incidents reported in 2021.

Read the full report here.

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