Levin expressed uncertainty about the sustainability of the decline. Data shared exclusively with USA TODAY by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism shows that the number of extremist-related fatalities in America in 2025 has surpassed last year’s count and is anticipated to rise further.”The decrease in hate crimes may not be permanent… this could be a ticking time bomb, with the prevalent prejudicial stereotypes potentially triggering a significant event,” Levin remarked.
Incidents of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate crimes are on the rise. The Pew Research Center identifies 5.8 million Jewish adults (2.4% of all U.S. adults). Anti-Muslim hate crimes saw an 18% increase in 28 cities, while hate crimes against Jews rose by approximately 11% in 35 cities and are on track to reach another record high, according to Levin’s findings. These trends are consistent with observations made by advocacy groups for both communities.
Following the deadly October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, the Anti-Defamation League noted over 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the United States in the subsequent year, partly due to a revision in the organization’s definition of such incidents. The increase in antisemitism will be discussed in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday. In the first half of 2024, the Council on American-Islamic Relations documented 4,951 reports of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate, marking a 69% surge compared to the same period the previous year. CAIR is anticipated to release its latest report this month, with projections indicating that the number of complaints in 2024 will surpass those received in 2023.
One year post the October 7 attacks: Uptick in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate incidents
Despite a decline in crimes against Asians, hate crimes are increasing. After a substantial increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian hate crimes decreased by over 14% in 29 cities last year, based on Levin’s data. However, instances of anti-Asian discrimination and threats of violence in extremist online spheres notably rose following President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, as highlighted by advocacy organization Stop AAPI Hate.
The organization’s report from last month revealed that these spikes coincided with anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric from Trump and his allies, particularly during controversies surrounding the H-1B visa program and Chinese-owned companies like TikTok and DeepSeek AI.
Online activities often correlate with real-world hate incidents, shedding light on the gaps in official data resulting from underreporting and the complexities of prosecuting hate crimes, noted Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate. She emphasized that while law enforcement agencies focus on collecting hate crime data, a substantial number of hate incidents do not qualify as criminal offenses, leading to an incomplete understanding of the challenges faced by affected
According to the bureau’s most recent data in 2023, submission of crime data to the federal government is not mandatory for all of the country’s more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies. As a result, national data on these crimes is notoriously flawed. “There’s difficulty at every step in the reporting chain, from victims not reporting at all to victims reporting incidents that may not be labeled as potential hate crimes,” Levin explained.
A photo depicts a sign on the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on August 17, 2022. Levin noted that law enforcement agencies undergoing changes in their crime tracking methods may not have a full year’s worth of data to send to the FBI before the annual report release. While the latest FBI data has been updated since its initial release in September, Levin highlighted the apparent absence of hundreds of victims from California in the dataset. Discrepancies were noted in the number of hate crime victims attributed to the Los Angeles Police Department by state and county officials.
In response to inquiries about the discrepancies, an FBI spokesperson explained that the data represented information submitted by the state of California for the LAPD and directed further questions to the department. The FBI statement emphasized potential differences in defining a hate crime between specific police departments and the FBI’s UCR Program, which aims to ensure consistency in reporting statistics nationwide.
USA TODAY has made efforts to reach out to the LAPD, the state attorney general’s office, and the LA County Commission on Human Relations for comments on the matter. Levin acknowledged that his data may not be comprehensive but mentioned that the snapshots captured in his reports help shed light on broader, concerning trends observed across the country. “Despite some declines, we are either at, slightly above, or exceeding previous records, indicating historically high levels of hate crimes, which have been prevalent throughout this challenging decade,” he remarked.
The original version of this article was featured in USA TODAY, reporting on the unexpected decline in hate crimes in major U.S. cities in 2024.
