ASSEMBLY HOMELAND SECURITY AND STATE PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 139

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  OCTOBER 19, 2020

      The Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee reports favorably Assembly Resolution No. 139.

      As reported by the committee, Assembly Resolution No. 139 condemns hate crimes and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting of minorities in New Jersey.

      The resolution further encourages the Governor and the Attorney General to provide State assistance to victims of hate crimes and to enhance security measures and improve preparedness at religious institutions, places of worship, and other institutions that have been targeted because of their affiliation with any particular race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.

      According to a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released in November 2018, the number of reported hate crime incidents nationally in 2017 had increased 17 percent over 2016 totals, representing the first consecutive three-year annual increase and the largest single-year increase since 2001, when hate crimes targeting Muslim Americans increased in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

      According to FBI statistics, there were 495 hate crimes reported in New Jersey in 2017, a 76 percent increase from the previous year and the fourth-highest reported total in the nation.  Of those New Jersey hate crimes, 260 were attributed to race or ethnic bias, 180 were attributed to religious bias, 51 were attributed to sexual orientation, and four were attributed to disability. Most recently, in 2018 New Jersey newspapers have reported that swastikas have been found at schools and on campaign signs.