In the wake of the deadliest anti-semitic attack in U.S. history, the Department of Justice released an update Monday on its ongoing efforts to combat hate crimes.
The department announced a new web portal which will serve as a centralized site for all of its resources—training materials, videos, research, statistics, and other relevant information—pertaining to hate crimes. And Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced new funding for combatting hate crimes, including $840,000 in grant money to support a study on hate crime data collection.
According to the FBI, there were slightly more than 6,000 hate crimes in 2016, the most recent year for which data have been reported. The 2016 figure was an increase from 2015, which was itself up from 2014—increases which reversed a decades-long decline in offenses.
In response to this increase, the DOJ has "ramped up" its prosecution of hate crimes over the past several years, aiming to bring the full power of the federal government to bear on particularly heinous offenses.
"No person should have to fear being violently attacked because of who they are, what they believe, or how they worship," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said last November, when the 2016 figures were released. "[T]here are actions we can take now, like continuing to aggressively prosecute those who violate an individuals' [sic] civil rights."
Under Sessions, DOJ has prosecuted 50 defendants for hate crimes—about a sixth of all defendants prosecuted in the past 10 years. In the past fiscal year, DOJ charged 27 defendants in 22 different cases, and obtained 30 total convictions.
These cases have run the gamut of discrimination—religious, racial, sexual, and gender identity. Earlier this month, DOJ won a second conviction in the case of murdered gender-fluid teen Kedarie Johnson. It also clinched a 25-year sentence for a man convicted of burning down a mosque in Victoria, Texas. And in August, a Kansas man was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of one man and the attempted murder of another on the basis of their Indian origin.
In the new fiscal year, the Department looks likely to continue its relentless prosecution of hate crimes. Within hours of Saturday's deadly shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa., the Department filed hate-crime charges against the shooter — if convicted, he may face life in prison or execution.
"Individuals should be able to live their lives free from the threat of violence and discrimination, no matter who they are, what they believe, or how they worship," said John Gore, the acting head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. "I am proud of the work that the Civil Rights Division and our partners in the U.S. Attorneys' offices have accomplished working with the FBI and our state and local law enforcement partners. We will continue to prioritize our work bringing perpetrators of hate crimes to justice throughout the country."