Preliminary statistics disclosed past December suggested that hate crimes dropped, but the FBI admitted these data were incomplete because several police departments including New York and California had not yet reported their numbers to federal government.

According to the FBI, 12,411 individuals were reportedly victims of hate crimes in 2021 – 64.5% of whom were reportedly targeted because of their race or ethnicity, while 15.9% were targeted for their sexual orientation and 14.1% for their religion. The number of hate crimes reported increased from 8,120 in 2020 to 9,065 in 2021.

During the year of analysis, hate crimes were most often fueled by prejudice against African-Americans, homosexuals, Jews and Asians, officials posited.

Recent surges in hate crimes include a wave of attacks on Asians during the Covid-19 pandemic, increased anti-Semitic threats, and a mass shooting at a nightclub attended by members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community in Colorado.

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