Community leaders and residents gathered in Wheaton to kick-off the work of a new task force trying to combat a rise in hate crimes.
“It is such a problem that I can’t tell you a week that I’ve gone by in 2023 that I have not received at least one report of a hate incident or a hate crime,” Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said.
“And in some cases I receive sometimes three or four reports.”
The first meeting of the Anti-Hate Task Force was held at the Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center on Tuesday.
According to an annual report, there were 157 reported bias incidents last year, the highest number reported to MCPD since the reporting process changed in 2015. It is a nearly 10% increase from 2021, when 143 bias incidents were reported.
“Where is the place that more hate crimes occur in this state than any other place?” said Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy. “Elementary schools, secondary schools, and colleges.” Then come incidents at home like property damage, he said.
“I was flabbergasted this year — this past school year — to see the amount of incidents that came that occurred at our schools or in the school community,” Jones said.
“We are really concerned about the uptick in hate speech and in hate violence and we want to be a part of the solution,” said Ron Wright, a task force member and social action chair at the People’s Community Baptist Church, as well as social action chair for the Black Ministers Conference of Montgomery County.
The goal of the task force — made up of community and faith leaders — is to develop recommendations to inform policies and legislation for safety and combating hate crimes in Montgomery County. Members will present a final report to the council no later than Nov. 28.
“The most important thing is that it is a determined goal, and that it is institutionalized and systemic,” said Ron Halber, a task force member and Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
There are six groups within the task force, with about 4-5 members in each. The six cohorts represent different communities in the county: Black and African American, Latino and Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+, Jewish, and Muslim.
Just this past weekend, police said a construction sign board was hacked to show racist messaging in Brookeville. And last month, police stated several Pride and Ukrainian flags were burned overnight in multiple Silver Spring neighborhoods.
Tuesday was the only in-person meeting until the group’s final meeting in November. The county council voted unanimously nearly two weeks ago to create the task force. Council President Evan Glass called for the task force in February.
“We want to say that hate has no home here. We want to make sure that everybody is welcome, safe and seen for who they truly, authentically are,” Glass said.
First meeting of the new Anti-Hate Task Force happening now in Wheaton. @mymcmedia pic.twitter.com/hbiYyEEXHK
— Maryam Shahzad (@maryam_mcm) July 11, 2023
