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Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, comments on the rise of hate crimesThe Huffington PostNov. 13, 2017

Brian Levin is quoted about the rise of hate crimes in America, which for the first time in over a decade, has increased two years in a row:

“We now have an unbroken streak of presidential election year increases [in hate crimes] going back to 1992, around the time national data collection commenced,” said Brian Levin, a professor at the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. 

But what makes 2016 stand out, Levin previously told HuffPost, is the steep rise in hate crimes around Election Day itself. Los Angeles, for example, saw a 29 percent increase in hate crimes in the last quarter of 2016, and New York City saw a five-fold increase in hate crimes over a two-week period around the election.

Those who commit hate crime hoaxes should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, according to CSUSB professor of criminal justice Brian LevinFox NewsNov. 9, 2017

CSUSB Professor Brian Levin is quoted about hate crime hoaxes, following a recent incident at the Air Force Academy, where an African-American student wrote anti-black racial slurs in a dormitory in September:

“Hate crime hoaxes have a similar divisive effect on communities that genuine hate crimes have and therefore — absent an extenuating circumstance — they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Brian Levin, director of The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino.

Levin said real hate crimes slightly declined last year in Colorado — where the academy is based — but increased by 5 percent nationally. He said he predicts the FBI's latest report — due next week — will show an excess of 6,000 hate crimes throughout the U.S. and will have the first back-to-back annual increase since 2004. (The FBI's last official count in 2015 was 5,850 hate crimes nationally.)

Hoaxes, while troubling, make up a 'sliver' of hate crime cases, Levin told Fox News.

“We do routinely see a very small number of hate crime hoaxes but we also see hoaxes with respect to arson and auto theft and even reports of sexual assault, yet we don't say the overwhelming number of reports of those crimes are hoaxes, either,” said Levin.

When they do occur, “colleges are among more common places where they happen,” Levin said. 

In the case of false reports, Levin noted that hoaxes are often meant to attract or divert attention or can be a political statement.

Brian Levin, director of the CSUSB Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, weighs in on hate-crime hoaxes
Associated Press
Nov. 8, 2017

After the Air Force Academy outside Colorado Springs confirmed that an African-American student wrote anti-black slurs in a dormitory in September, Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said hate-crime hoaxes are often meant to attract or divert attention or they can be a political statement.

Many hate-crime hoaxes occur in school settings, Levin said.

“I think that schools and universities are perceived as places that are more embracing to victims of such a tragedy (as a hate crime),” he said. “A place where the culture is to rally around victims of prejudice, such as universities, would be a reason.”

Hate-crime hoaxes seem to be on the rise, but the number is tiny compared with actual hate crimes, he said.

The FBI said 5,850 hate crimes were reported to law enforcement in 2015, an average of 16 a day. Levin estimated that no more than three hoaxes a month occur nationwide.

He worries that hoaxes will discourage real victims from coming forward for fear of being attacked or doubted.

“Most hate crimes are not reported to begin with, so that’s why this is a worrisome development,” Levin said.

CSUSB professor Brian Levin quoted about hate crime hoaxes, following recent Air Force Academy incident
Mic
Nov. 8, 2017

False incidents make up only a “tiny fraction” of overall reported hate crimes, Brian Levin, director of the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, told Talking Points Memo, yet these hoaxes — and the significant attention they often generate — can have detrimental effects.

In a culture where the White House and its allies regularly decry unfavorable journalism as being “fake news,” social justice hoaxes are a key way in which critics can challenge the validity of hate crimes overall and take them less seriously.

“I’m a criminologist and people have accused my reports of being biased when I’m using official law enforcement criteria or actual law enforcement data,” Levin told “Talking Points Memo.” “There’s something politically going on now that is different. These hoaxes have become symbols for some who want to promote the idea that most hate crimes are hoaxes. That’s important to rectify.”

Brian Levin, CSUSB professor of criminal justice, offers expertise about hate crimes, following Air Force Academy hate-crime hoax
The New York Times
Nov. 8, 2017

The incident at the Air Force Academy — where an African-American student wrote anti-black racial slurs in a dormitory in September — renewed concerns that falsely reported hate crimes could make it more difficult for people with legitimate grievances to be taken seriously, particularly in a time when the reports of hate crimes are highly politicized.

“There are opportunists who try to paint this problem as indicative that they are not occurring, when they actually are,” said Brian Levin, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. While hoaxes form a tiny percentage of total hate crime reports, Mr. Levin said he had an “anecdotal sense that we have seen somewhat of an increase in these hoaxes over the last year or so.”

These news clips, and others, may be found at “In the Headlines” on the Inside CSUSB website.