Thread by @AAIUSA

We're following today's @HouseJudiciary hearing on "Hate Crimes and the Rise of White Nationalism." Keep your eyes on this thread for live analysis and commentary.
judiciary.house.gov/legislation/he…

Let's set the landscape: According to @FBI, hate crime incidents surged 17% in 2017, the most recent year of available data. This was the greatest & 1st successive 3-yr increase since post-9/11 backlash against Arab American, American Muslim, & South Asian American communities.

Contributing to this surge was a 37% increase of Anti-Jewish hate crime, an overwhelming number of Anti-Black or African American hate crime, a 100% increase of Anti-Arab hate crime, and Anti-Muslim hate crime numbers remaining well above historical averages.

Despite the numbers, we know that many incidents, including high-profile hate crime murders, are excluded from data. As we wrote in @CNN, the killing of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville and other devastating crimes were not recorded in FBI data. cnn.com/2018/11/14/opi…

While state & local reform will improve hate crime response & data, Congress must strengthen these efforts with effective oversight & legislation. That's why we support this hearing. But given the witnesses the minority put forward, we fear it will not focus on hate crime.

The minority's first witness, Mort Klein, has a history of making making bigoted statements against Arab Americans and American Muslims, and furthermore, has no expertise on hate crime. #EndHate

He opened his testimony with degrading and flagrantly hateful comments about advocates for Palestinian human rights and proceeded to attack the American Muslim community with categorical attributions of anti-Semitism, manipulating statistics in the process. #EndHate

The minority's 2nd witness, Candace Owens, is a partisan commentator who, as evidenced in her testimony, has no interest in helping @HouseJudiciary address the threat of hate crime & seems to have every intent to further politicize what should be a bipartisan concern. #EndHate

Moving on from the political sideshow and back to the issue. We have deep concerns about expanding systems under which certain communities have been subject to unjust treatment, i.e. fed. counterterrorism apparatus. #EndHate #StopWhiteSupremacy

As @KristenClarkeJD of @LawyersComm pointed out, the FBI identified the fabricated threat of "Black Identity Extremists" as a domestic terrorism concern. #EndHate #StopWhiteSupremacy foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/06/the…

These concerns dovetail with those about "Countering Violent Extremism," or CVE, a fed. program that's intrusive, ineffective, & dangerously misguided, as it relies on bogus theories to justify targeted surveillance of communities, esp. Arab Americans & Amer. Muslims. #EndHate

Back to the sideshow, witness Mort Klein just defended Israeli PM Netanyahu & attacked student advocates for Palestinian human rights and non-violent boycott movements. Reminder: this is a @HouseJudiciary hearing about hate crime, folks. #EndHate #StopWhiteSupremacy

It is absolutely shameful that Dr. Mohammad Abu-Salha, whose daughters & son-in-law were killed in a blatant hate crime, is being forced to defend his faith & background against the bigotry & ignorance purveyed by some participants in this hearing. #EndHate #StopWhiteSupremacy

@RepKarenBass & @KristenClarkeJD discuss the prosecution of Rakem Balogun, a black activist & ostensibly the 1st subject of an investigation under the "Black Identity Extremist" label. #EndHate #StopWhiteSupremacy theguardian.com/world/2018/may…

Seemingly every chance he gets, witness Mort Klein uses the platform of this hearing on hate crime and white nationalism to attack student advocates for Palestinian human rights and Rep. @IlhanMN. Disgraceful. #EndHate #StopWhiteSupremacy

And then Mr. Klein directly confronted Dr. Abu-Salha with his disgraceful anti-Muslim diatribes. As we feared, this important hearing is officially derailed.

The hearing is over & we are no better off than when it began. Congress must respond to hate crime & white nationalism with effective oversight & legislation, not politicized hearings in which bigotry & xenophobia are provided a platform. Statement to follow. #EndHate

"In what can only be described as a complete and utter disgrace, Dr. Abu-Salha was forced to repeatedly defend his faith and background against vile stereotypes and mischaracterizations" -- @iMayaBerry (read our full statement: aaiusa.org/house_hearing_…)
#EndHate