FBI: East Texas named hot spot for hate crimes
Posted/updated on: October 28, 2023 at 1:26 pm
TYLER – FBI Dallas officials visited Tyler to discuss increasing reports of hate crimes in East Texas according to our news partners at KETK. On Wednesday, the FBI Dallas division officials and local authorities were at T.R Griffith Park in Tyler to discuss the impact hate crimes have on East Texas. According to the FBI, law enforcement agencies reported more than 11,000 incidents involving over 13,000 victims of hate crimes in 2022. “We’ve definitely seen an uptick in hate crime reporting,” said Chad Yarbrough, Special Agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas Field. Anti-African American, anti-Jewish and anti-gay are the top three and with the tension in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas, there’s been a rise in threats.
Yarbrough said hate crimes attack entire communities, not just one person. “East Texas and Tyler in particular has always been a very hot spot when it comes to civil rights investigations,” said Yarbrough. “It was probably our busiest location throughout our area of responsibility outside of the Dallas-Metroplex.”
Hate crimes have historically been underreported and some of it can be because people are too afraid to report it or distrust the FBI.
Two benches have been donated to the park by the FBI Dallas division hoping it will remind people to always report any crimes that involve hate.
