Barbara Howard: This is All Things Considered, I'm Barbara Howard. After the violence in Charlottesville, Va. and last night's vandalism at the New England Holocaust memorial in Boston, what were once marginalized groups — the Neo-Nazi sympathizers, Ku Klux Klan and the like — they've been in the headlines in recent days, but how widespread is this phenomenon? With us on the line is Robert Trestan, and he's executive director of the Boston office of the Anti-Defamation League, which among other things, tracks hate crimes. Thanks for joining us, Robert.
Robert Trestan: Thanks for having me.
Barbara Howard: So, nationally, hate crime statistics are up. How about here in New England?
Robert Trestan: We've seen a marked increase in the last few months of reported hate crimes, and it's important to keep in mind that we're seeing a lot more hate incidents, not all of which rise to the level of a criminal offense.
Barbara Howard: What kind of incidents?
Robert Trestan: Everything from vandalism and graffiti to people being assaulted. It's really across the board. One of the things that we've detected is what I would characterize as sort of the dissemination of messages of hate, and sometimes that's just somebody spray painting a racial epithet or an Islamophobic or anti-Semitic messages in public places or in schools. And sometimes it's just people harassing one another on the street or in the shop or online.
Barbara Howard: Well, news footage of the rallies that we've been seeing show mostly men, mostly young men. Is there a reason for that?
Robert Trestan: Well, the typical offender for a hate crime is usually a white male between 18 and 24 years old. And you know, our televisions and computers were fixated on images over the weekend from Charlottesville, but the majority of hate crimes are not actually committed by organized hate groups. They're usually committed by, you know, individuals who may be inspired or are somehow radicalized by a group or an ideology that go out and feel empowered to target someone or target a group.
Barbara Howard: Well, the vandalism in June at the Holocaust Memorial here in Boston, that was attributed to a man with a history of mental illness, and last night, it allegedly was a teenager from Malden. Now, they seem to have been acting on their own, but then so did that man who drove his car into the anti-racism protesters in Charlottesville where that young woman was killed. What's the role of the internet in inspiring these acts?
Robert Trestan: Well you know, it's hard to predict what motivates an individual person to commit an act, and I think there's some real distinctions between the vandalism to the Holocaust Memorial and driving a car for a crowd of people where, you know, there's an obvious likelihood of death or serious injury, and that's what we saw. Now, the Holocaust Memorial, the police are trying to determine a motive. We know that these individuals, from video, committed the acts, but we're not certain right now exactly what motivated them, so we should be careful about jumping to conclusions without actually having the evidence.
Barbara Howard: Have you been fielding calls about this or are people worried?
Robert Trestan: People are worried and people actually want to do something. And that's one of the unique outcomes of the rise that we've seen in hate incidents, is it's actually bringing more people together. The people who commit these acts or have these beliefs, they don't represent Massachusetts or Boston or even the country, and people of goodwill are uniting around a different message now more than ever. And we saw that with people really wanting to organize around this proposed free speech rally in Boston on Saturday, and we're seeing that now, people rallying, once again — the second time this summer — around damage to the Holocaust memorial.
Barbara Howard: Well, so for those who do want to express themselves in a public way, what are your thoughts, what is your advice and how to conduct yourself at these rallies?
Robert Trestan: My advice is to go to a separate location and let the bigots have their free speech rights. The right to free speech doesn't give you the right to an audience, and the best thing we can do is deprive them of anyone listening to them or paying attention to their message.
Barbara Howard: OK, thanks so much, Robert Trestan.
Robert Trestan: Thanks for having me today.
Barbara Howard: Robert Trestan is executive director of the Boston office of the Anti-Defamation League, which among other things, tracks hate crimes. This is All Things Considered.
