Bias incidents, hate crimes and graffiti continued to plague Montgomery County during 2024.
The county has a data website that logs the numerous incidents and which minority group they are directed at, but it is hard to know just how many of these incidents are occurring because so many go unreported, according to county officials.
They range from actual assaults, to hate graffiti, written or verbal abuse, bullying to hate symbols drawn on school desks.
According to the county’s website, in 39% of the incidents, Jewish people were the victims. Another 33% of the incidents were leveled against Blacks, 6% against the LBGTQ community and 2% of the incidents were anti-Islamic.
Many minority community members are victims, but only few report incidents, Kate Chance, the county’s faith liaison told MCM earlier this year.
The Jewish and Muslim communities have experienced a lot of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism this past year, yet the data doesn’t show this, Chance said. “I believe both communities are under reporting, but especially the Muslim and Latin American community.”
To obtain more accurate accounting, the county debuted a new web portal designed to make it easier to report incidents.
County Debuts Website Portal Designed to Ease Hate Crime Reporting
Gila Franklin Siegel, chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, says incidents at Montgomery County Public Schools skyrocketed following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.
“It initially dropped off during the new school year,” but incidents did rise again in the fall.
“It’s so important that marginalized groups work together” to end hate in all forms, she said.
Right before the start of school, multiple hate bias incidents and vandalism occurred. They tended to happen near schools and communities with the largest Jewish population, Franklin Siegel said.
Police Call Recent Hate Vandalism ‘Unacceptable;’ Will Conduct ‘Thorough Investigation’
