Oregon Reports 42 “Hate Incidents” in the Month Since Trump’s Election, Watchdog Group Says

That number continues to appear to be the highest rate in the nation.

(ww staff)

The Southern Poverty Law Center has released an update on the wave of "hate incidents" the group has been tracking since the election of Donald Trump in November.

And Oregon's per capita rate of reported hate incidents continues to lead the nation.

When WW last reported on these allegations on Nov. 29, the SPLC had recorded 867 "hate incidents" in the first 10 days after the election. Oregon was the site for 33 of those alleged incidents, most of them reported in the Portland metro area.

The SPLC, which tracks hate and extremist groups, now says Oregon's number of hate incidents Nov. 8 through Dec. 12 has risen to 42. That's the 9th highest number in the U.S., and still appears to be the highest rate per capita.

The SPLC's reports are controversial—especially after several high-profile post-election hate attacks were debunked in recent days. In its new report, the SPLC removes two allegations from its list of 1,094 nationwide incidents, lists 13 likely false reports, and says the vast majority of reported incidents are true.

"While it is almost certain that more false reports will be uncovered," the new report says. "and the SPLC will be quick to update our database, the right-wing narrative that this wave of incidents are all hoaxes simply doesn't stand up to the numbers. Counting all 13 false reports (listed at the bottom of this post), of which only two were counted in our previous reporting, amounts to just over 1 percent of the total number of incidents collected in this update."

The instances have slowed down considerably since the first few days following the election. The SPLC notes that the most common motivation is anti-Immigrant sentiment, following by anti-black, anti-Muslim, and anti-LGBT.

The SPLC says President-elect Donald Trump was directly referenced in over one third of all hate incidents recorded. When you filter for just the Trump-related instances, the most common motivation becomes overwhelmingly anti-woman, at 87 percent.

One odd detail: 74 percent of reported incidents allegedly occurred on college campuses. The SPLC attributes that to campus touring and recruiting by "white nationalist 'alt-right' figureheads like Richard Spencer and Milo Yiannopolous."

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