Durbin Questions Witnesses During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Stemming The Rise Of Hate Crimes

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America." The hearing examined the threats facing marginalized communities and how the federal government can better protect the civil rights and safety of all Americans, including Jewish, Arab, and Muslim Americans. Building on the Committee's work to address the rise in hate crimes and domestic terrorism, Durbin announced the hearing in response to the ongoing and persistent rise of antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, and other forms of bigotry across the country.

Durbin began his questioning by asking Ms. Maya Berry, who serves as the Executive Director of the Arab American Institute and a Co-Chair of the Hate Crimes Task Force at the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, to explain why no one hate crime against one particular group is worse than another.

"One of the fundamental threshold questions is whether we can… separate one type of hate crime and say, 'This is the worst. This is the priority. To the exclusion of others, we're only going to deal with one,'" Durbin posed.

Ms. Berry made clear that it's not possible. She noted that, according to FBI data, hate crimes have reached their highest level since the agency first started collecting data in 1991. Ms. Berry further explained that singling out one community to protect does not improve overall safety for vulnerable groups. She emphasized that the underlying issue is hate, and that it must be addressed holistically.

Durbin then turned to Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center in Atlanta, Georgia, to ask him about inflammatory rhetoric used by politicians.

"Rabbi, do you believe that language being used by politicians that dehumanizes certain groups adds to this atmosphere of hate?" Durbin asked.

Rabbi Goldfeder responded that all extreme political rhetoric is dangerous, and that politicians on both sides of the aisle should tone down their divisive rhetoric.

"Do you believe that, as politicians, if we set out to dehumanize groups like immigrants, does that have an impact on the conversation about hate crimes?" Durbin followed up.

Rabbi Goldfeder replied that no group should ever be dehumanized. Durbin agreed.

Durbin then asked Kenneth Stern, Director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, about the motives behind the shootings at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart and the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Mr. Stern, you gave an example of the El Paso Walmart and the Pittsburgh synagogue, and [you] believe that though the targets were different, the motivations were the same. Explain that," Durbin said.

Mr. Stern explained that the motivations of the three shooters in El Paso, Pittsburgh, and at the Buffalo, New York, supermarket were similar, combining anti-immigrant sentiments with feeling threatened by people of color and believing in white supremacy, which is rooted in antisemitism. Mr. Stern noted that these motivations feed into each other.

Durbin concluded his questions by asking Ms. Berry about how one can be critical of a political position without vilifying whole communities.

"Ms. Berry, how do you draw the line in conversation in a free society like America when it comes to how far you can go? Can I disagree with Bibi Netanyahu and still stand up for Israel?" Durbin asked.

Ms. Berry replied that it is possible. Ms. Berry emphasized that action based on a negative viewpoint of a political position or a politician is not a hate crime if it is not motivated by a protected category like someone's race, ethnicity, or religious ideology. She noted that it's important for elected officials to discuss policy disagreements without espousing harmful rhetoric toward specific communities. As evident in the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans following damaging comments towards them during the COVID-19 pandemic, hate crimes toward certain communities spike after public figures make sweeping, harmful comments about these groups.

Video of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here.

Audio of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here.

Footage of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here for TV Stations.

Since 2022, the Committee has held several hearings to examine the issue, including a hearing on "Combating the Rise in Hate Crimes" shortly after the January 15, 2022, synagogue attack in Colleyville, Texas, and a hearing on the "Metastasizing' Domestic Terrorism Threat After the Buffalo Attack," which explored the continued threat posed by violent white supremacists and other extremists, including those who have embraced the so-called "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, after a mass shooting by a white supremacist in Buffalo on May 14, 2022; the white supremacist who murdered 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 also embraced this conspiracy theory.

Last year, Durbin reintroduced the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, which would establish federal offices to combat domestic terrorism, require federal law enforcement agencies to regularly assess the threat, and provide training and resources to state, local, and tribal law enforcement to address it. In May 2022, Senate Republicans filibustered the House-passed Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, less than two weeks after the racially-motivated attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket that killed ten Black Americans.

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