WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Anti-Muslim hate crimes in the U.S. have nearly doubled in the first half of 2017, increasing by 91% compared to the same time in 2016, according to a report published by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The spike marked a sizeable increase on 2016, which was the worst year for anti-Muslim incidents, since CAIR started its documenting system in 2013. While CAIR did not draw comparison, the spike in recorded incidents coincided with President Donald Trump coming into office.
The number of so-called "bias incidents” increased by 24%.
Zainab Arain, coordinator in CAIR’s Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia, said: "The presidential election campaign and the Trump administration have tapped into a seam of bigotry and hate that has resulted in the targeting of American Muslims and other minority groups.”
"If acts of bias impacting the American Muslim community continue as they have been, 2017 could be one of the worst years ever for such incidents,” Arain added.
There are approximately 3.3 million Muslims living in the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center report released in May.
The most common incidents CAIR recorded in the second quarter of 2017 involved harassment, which were defined as non-violent or non-threatening.
But hate crimes involving physical violence or damage to property accounted for the second highest number of incidents.
The report highlighted that the biggest cause of anti-Muslim bias incidents – 32% of the total – was still a person’s ethnicity or national origin.
"Twenty percent of incidents occurred because of an individual being perceived as Muslim. A Muslim woman’s headscarf was a trigger in 15% of incidents,” the report added.
The figures for 2016 saw hate crimes increase by more than 40%, compared to 2015. There was also a 57% increase in bias incidents.
Of the incidents recorded, 17% were carried out at the victims’ homes, but 14% involved Muslims walking in the street, or driving cars.
Victims on public transport, or flying accounted for 13% of the incidents, while about one-third (33%) of all the incidents occurred in mosques or Islamic centers. Schools did not escape the problem, accounting for nine percent.
Although the CAIR report did not cite Trump’s rhetoric toward Muslims as a factor in the increased anti-Muslim bias in the U.S., a previous report conducted by researchers at California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that bias crimes against various minorities and religious groups were up some 20% since Trump’s election win in November.
On multiple occasions during his campaign, Trump made harsh statements regarding "Islamic terrorists” and promoted a stronger vetting system to identify immigrants with "ties to radical ideology.”