FBI report says US hate crimes soared in 2021

The number of hate crimes across the United States jumped by nearly 12 percent in 2021, as victims were mostly targeted due to their race or ethnicity, according to figures released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

There were 9,065 hate crimes in 2021 compared with 8,120 in 2020, an increase of 11.6 percent. The figures were compiled by 79 percent of all US law enforcement agencies.

Hate crimes were motivated by bias over a person's race or ethnicity in 64.5 percent of cases, by sexuality in 15.9 percent of cases, and due to religion in 14.1 percent of cases, the FBI found.