Department of Justice launches a new hate crime resource portal

Following an alarming week or domestic terrorism, the U.S. Department of Justice has consolidated resources and reporting tools for hate crimes into a single online hub.

According to a DOJ press release, the new portal is meant to “provide a centralized portal for the Department’s hate crimes resources for law enforcement, media, researchers, victims, advocacy groups, and other related organizations and individuals.” The new website can be found at https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the website on Monday at a D.C. law enforcement event focused on hate crime prevention. Rosenstein also announced $840,000 in grant money from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to study how hate crime data is collected.

The site collects resources including research reports, statistics, legal guides and training materials from the DOJ’s work investigating and prosecuting hate crimes. The site offers recent example federal hate crime cases, including instances of violence targeting individuals for their race, religion, national origin, gender identity, disability and sexual orientation. Another section of the site centralizes reporting tools for anyone looking to report a suspected hate crime to the federal government.

For anyone critical of the Trump administration’s role in sowing political rancor, the site will come as little solace. The portal does collect some useful resources, but if anything it’s yet another curious act of cognitive dissonance, this time from a DOJ intent on looking serious toward hate-motivated violence, even as it strips protections from vulnerable groups often targeted by violence — most notably transgender Americans, in recent days.

“In mourning the victims today, we also rededicate ourselves to our commitment to preventing hate crimes,” Rosenstein said of the announcement, acknowledging that many hate crimes continue to go unreported.