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Hate-Motivated Murders Double, Hate Crimes Highest Since 2008

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The surge reported by the FBI, a 21 percent increase in the first three years of Donald Trump’s presidency, was predictable, but that doesn’t make it any less terrible.

An FBI report released Monday reveals hate crimes under President Donald Trump are surging.

For all of 2019, the latest results available, hate-motivated murders more than doubled, and hate crimes hit their highest level since 2008, when George W. Bush was president. For President Trump’s first three years in office, hate crimes surged a staggering 21 percent.

“The latest rise in hate crime signals a new brutal landscape, where targeted attacks against rotating victim groups not only result in spikes, but increases are also being driven by a more widely dispersed rise in the most violent offenses,” Brian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, told Voice of America (VOA).

The FBI reports there were “7,314 criminal incidents and 8,559 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity.”

Criminal incidents involving race, ethnicity, or ancestry made up the majority of the crimes, at 57.6 percent. Religion-based bias crimes were the second-highest, at 20.6 percent of the total.

Sexual orientation (16.7 percent) and gender identity (2.7 percent) bias crimes combined were the third- highest, at 19.4 percent.

Disability bias crimes comprised 2.0 percent, and gender bias crimes just under one percent.

Hate-motivated homicides have increased every year since Trump became President.

“Hate-motivated homicides more than doubled to a record 51, driven by attacks carried out by white supremacists, including an August 2019 massacre at an El Paso supermarket which left 23 people dead,” VOA adds.

The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism reveals “racist killers dominated the overall category of ‘extremist motivated’ homicides with a total higher than that of all extremist killings combined for 2018.”

Hate-driven aggravated assaults are now at their highest point in nearly two decades, since 2001.

The “Trump effect” on America and hate-motivated violence is not new. A 2016 study by the Southern Poverty Law Center found “almost 900 incidents of harassment following Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election,” the BBC reported.

“Hate crimes reportedly jumped by 226 percent in counties that hosted Trump campaign rallies,” Vox reported last year.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via screencap.

Franklin Graham Claims He’s Not ‘Bashing People Because They May Be Homosexual’

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“If you want to continue living like this, it’s the flames of hell for you,” evangelical pastor Franklin Graham has said. But in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, he swears he’s not homophobic.

Franklin Graham is doing some public relations work for his Samaritan’s Purse conservative Christian non-profit after the organization was met with great concern and warnings for requiring its medical professionals and even its volunteers working at its Central Park coronavirus field hospital in New York City to sign a document agreeing to support Graham’s anti-LGBTQ beliefs.

After Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who has an ugly history of anti-LGBTQ and white nationalist remarks, announced on-air Wednesday that she was sending Samaritan’s Purse a “significant” donation, she asked Graham why the left is concerned about his anti-LGBTQ policies.

“We have a statement of faith, Laura,” Graham said, as Media Matters reports (video below).

“We believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And that’s — that goes back to the beginning of time to the first man and woman that God created,” Graham claimed. “And this is our standard, and so for people that we hire — we are a Christian organization. We are a religious organization, so we want to hire people of like mind, and we have a statement of faith that we require our employees to sign. And in that is ‘a marriage is between a man and a woman,’ and this is very offensive to some people and the gay community.”

It’s also very offensive to the majority of Americans. Last year Gallup found nearly three out of four Americans (73 percent) believe same-sex relationship should be legal, and more than six in 10 (63 percent) believe marriages of same-sex couples should be legal.

“And listen,” Graham continued. “I’m not homophobic, and I’m certainly not going around bashing people because they may be homosexual.”

Graham literally is going around bashing people because they are gay.

“I believe in that God loves all of us. He created us all, but we also are sinners, and our sins separate us from God. And I want people to know how they can have a relationship with God, and that’s through faith in his son Jesus Christ. So, I don’t bash homosexuals. I want homosexuals to know the truth, that God does love them.”

Graham also wants gay people to know “the truth of the Gospel,” he has said, but as he preaches it.

“I’m not afraid of homosexuals, I’m really not — matter of fact, I love them,” Graham has said. “I love them enough to care to warn them that if they want to continue living like this, it’s the flames of hell for you.”

Last year Graham infamously warned Pete Buttigieg he will suffer “eternal damnation” if he does not “repent” his homosexuality.

“God’s Word defines homosexuality as sin,” Graham added, criticizing the former Indiana mayor for kissing his husband in public. It’s “something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised, or politicized.”

Graham’s use of the Bible as a weapon is very selective, as NCRM reported last year.

In 2018 he claimed now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged attempted rape was just something “he did as a teenager” – apparently no repentance required – unlike being gay, according to Graham.

He has also called an alleged child abuser (the details are horrific and sickening) a “great patriot.” Apparently no repentance required there, either.

And Graham has defended Trump’s affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels as “nobody’s business” — although he insisted in 1998 that Bill Clinton’s “sins are not private.”

Watch Graham and Ingraham on Fox News via Media Matters:

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via NCRM

Rush Limbaugh Says Trump Told Him Not To Apologize For Anti-Gay Comments About Buttigieg

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“The president … is such a nice guy,” says recent Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and longtime right-wing radio shock jock Rush Limbaugh.

Rush Limbaugh, who recently was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, days later turned around and made nasty, homophobic comments about Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and his marriage to his husband Chasten.

According to the 69-year old Limbaugh, who has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, President Trump quickly heard his remarks, or heard of them, and called him to tell him to not apologize.

“Hell, the president even called me about this,” Limbaugh told listeners of his syndicated radio show on Monday, as Media Matters reports. “The president checks in every now and then to see how I’m doing. He’s such a nice guy. And he called. It’s uncanny. I’m — Do I respond to him? Yeah. No, I try to reply to all of them, Dawn. I’m not going to be able to, but he calls, and yeah — powerful, influential member of the media, folks. I have got the White House private number in my phone, so when the White House calls, it says there on my phone,” Limbaugh said, making sure his supporters know just how “powerful” and “influential” he is.

“And so, invariably, it’s uncanny. He calls when I am moments away from commencing a medical procedure,” Limbaugh continues. “And I had to tell doctors, ‘You’ve got to give me a half-hour, the president’s calling.’ ‘OK, we’ll wait a half-hour.’ Then I told the White House, “Look, I’ve got a medical procedure in 10 minutes. Can you have the president call me back in 35?’ And they did. So, he called back, and he said ‘Rush, I just got to tell you something. Never apologize, don’t ever –‘ and I said, ‘For what?’”

Of course, the timing doesn’t seem to add up. If the doctors gave him a half hour for a “medical procedure” why would he tell the White House to have Trump call him back in 35 minutes? Also, the level of gall is tremendous – who tells the President of the United States to call them back later?

But the point is clear: Trump supports anti-LGBTQ hatred and bigotry – according to Rush Limbaugh, Medal of Freedom honoree.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via NCRM

Franklin Graham Cries ‘Discrimination’ as UK Venues Ban Him Over His ‘Divisive’ Anti-LGBTQ Extremism

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We’re used to it here in the US, but in other countries, Franklin Graham’s hateful rhetoric does not fly at all.

Franklin Graham‘s planned tour of the UK has run in to a snag: It appears few in the UK want him there. The far right evangelical Christian leader with strong ties to President Donald Trump had announced a UK tour starting in June, but as word spread venues started canceling on him, or pulled out of negotiations. At issue: Graham’s anti-LGBTQ extremism.

ACC Liverpool, a convention center adjacent to the John Lennon Peace Monument has blocked Graham, calling him “divisive” and saying he is “incompatible” with their values.

“Over the past few days we have been made aware of a number of statements which we consider to be incompatible with our values,” the ACC Liverpool said in a statement, as The Guardian reports. “In light of this we can no longer reconcile the balance between freedom of speech and the divisive impact this event is having in our city. We have informed the organizers of the event that the booking will no longer be fulfilled.”

The mayor of Liverpool supports the decision:

A London venue has also backed out of negotiations in the wake of “an All Out petition calling on The O2 to refuse to host Graham, with the petition gaining more than 8,500 signatures by early Tuesday morning,” Newsweek reports.

Graham is accusing his UK opponents of discrimination – while falsely suggesting all Christians support him and his beliefs.

“We feel that we are being discriminated against because of our religious beliefs,” Graham said. “Cancelling venue contracts based on the demands of one very vocal group, without consideration for the views and rights of the Christians who contracted for the venue, including the views of thousands of other Christians who support it and who would be negatively impacted, does far more to harm and divide society than simply letting the events go on as planned.”

He also called it “wrong for venue managers and local officials to make a decision that disadvantages Christians,” as if all LGBTQ people are not Christian.

Graham, who says Satan is behind LGBTQ advocacy, had more strong words in response to the lockout, in an open “letter to the LGBTQ community in the UK.”

“The rub, I think, comes in whether God defines homosexuality as sin. The answer is yes,” he told his 8 million Facebook followers. “But God goes even further than that, to say that we are all sinners — myself included. The Bible says that every human being is guilty of sin and in need of forgiveness and cleansing. The penalty of sin is spiritual death — separation from God for eternity.”

“I invite everyone in the LGBTQ community to come and hear for yourselves the Gospel messages that I will be bringing from God’s Word, the Bible. You are absolutely welcome,” he claimed.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via NCRM

There For Those In Need

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Captain Michael Bender, who became Richmond Police Department’s new LGBTQ Liaison in August, wants to ensure that Richmond’s LGBTQ community feels welcomed and included throughout the city.

In June 1969, police raided Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, sparking two nights of rioting that have gone down in history as a catalyst of the gay rights movement. Today, half a century later, it’s not uncommon to encounter anti-police sentiments among members of the LGBTQ community. “No cops at Pride” becomes a mantra each June for those aware of the long history of injustices committed against the LGBTQ community by police.

In hopes of building a stronger, healthier relationship with the community, the Richmond Police Department established an LGBTQ liaison officer position in 2013. This past August, Captain Michael Bender took over as RPD’s LGBTQ liaison officer, replacing Captain Dan Minton, who had held the position since 2016.

Bender, who has been with RPD for almost 25 years, said that a big part of his responsibilities as LGBTQ Liaison is being available to the community. “A liaison role is about accessibility,” he said. “Who do you go to talk to if you have an issue?”

This falls in line with precedents that past liaisons have set. In 2017, Richmond police investigated an incident in which an individual spray-painted the words “Gay Move Die” on the side of a car as a hate crime. Capt. Minton, LGBTQ liaison at the time, was actively involved in communicating updates about the investigation to members of the LGBTQ community.

Bender says that it is important for him to help out the LGBTQ community in Richmond, because everyone should feel welcome in the community as a whole.

“One of the big things I always tell officers is ‘how would you want your family treated … if they encountered the police?’” Bender said. “If you can make somebody feel welcome and feel accepted, then they’re part of the community. And that’s what we want for everybody in the city. It’s not just certain groups or certain people that we want to be in the community, we want everybody to feel a fabric of Richmond because it’s a great city.”

Richmond Police Chief William Smith, Capt. Bender, and other members of local law enforcement agencies at VA PrideFest 2019. Photo by Christopher Brown

While Bender had never attended a Pride festival prior to becoming LGBTQ liaison, this year’s VA PrideFest, which occurred on September 28, was his first. Bender hoped to use the event as an opportunity to make his face known to the community and as a way to build trust.

“It’s just about changing people’s perceptions and talking to people like they’re people,” Bender said. “I mean, we’re all people. So there’s no difference, as far as I’m concerned, just because I’m wearing a uniform.”

It’s probably comes as no surprise that Bender disagrees with the notion of “no cops at Pride.”

“In this day and age, having an event where you have over 20 to 30,000 people, it’s a public safety issue if you don’t have some law enforcement presence,” he said. “Speaking to the president of [VA Pride, James Millner], he is very adamant that having uniformed officers there is imperative for everybody’s safety.”

Bender has only served as LGBTQ liaison officer for around two months now. He says that he has had conversations with his predecessor about how to best handle the responsibilities of the position, and seeks to continue the improvements he has seen the Richmond Police Department has made since he joined their ranks in 1995.

“It’s a new position and it’s an unknown,” he said. “I’m just hoping I can do a good job and be there when somebody needs me.”

Top Photo courtesy Richmond Police

Westboro Baptist Church Hurls Slurs Ahead of Richmond Visit

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Westboro Baptist Church is planning to visit Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia State Capitol on March 11, though it’s unclear how much access the group will have to university grounds.

The Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for its posters that feature slurs against the LGBTQ community and its practice of picketing soldiers’ funerals. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls the church “arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America.”

According to the VCU policies and events website, members of the public may use university property “only by invitation” from a university employee or student.

However, the public may reserve the Park Plaza amphitheater without an invitation “no more than five days in advance of the desired date of use.”

VCU prohibits expression that is not protected by law, such as obscenity and fighting words.

VCU officials tweeted that they are aware of the WBC’s plans to demonstrate “on City of Richmond public property, near campus.”

“While their views are antithetical to VCU’s core values of diversity and inclusion, their free speech — and ours — is a guaranteed constitutional right,” the tweet said.

A press release from Westboro Baptist Church for the State Capitol event includes hateful language toward Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, Virginia’s first transgender woman elected to the General Assembly.

Roem, who has inspired the LGBTQ community, said in a 2017 MSNBC interview: “You can champion inclusion, you can champion equality and equity and you can win.” She has also said that she wants the press to focus on her policies, not her gender.

She defeated 13-term incumbent Robert G. Marshall, who unsuccessfully sponsored legislation known widely as the “bathroom bill,” which would have required people to use the restroom that corresponded with the gender on their birth certificate.

When members of the Westboro Baptist Church visited Richmond in 2010, they encountered hundreds of counterprotesters. They visited the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Shockoe Bottom along with other Jewish cultural centers.

The group’s final stop during the 2010 visit was Hermitage High School on Hungary Spring Road in Henrico County, where church members faced hundreds of young counterdemonstrators. Westboro Baptist Church did not visit VCU that year, but students staged a silent anti-hate rally anyway.

By Rosemarie O’Connor, Capital News Service. Photos via Westboro Baptist Church’s website (unlinked on purpose, google it)