Lynch visiting mosque next week amid rise in hate crimes: report

Attorney General Loretta Lynch reportedly plans on visiting a mosque in Virginia next week amid a startling uptick in hate crimes targeting Muslims.

Lynch is scheduled for a stop at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling early Monday, The Associated Press said Friday.

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The attorney general will then travel to New York City the following day for a discussion with gay, lesbian and transgender youth at Harvey Milk High School. Lynch will visit the Stonewall Inn and the Stonewall National Monument, which commemorates the start of America’s LGBT rights movement.

An FBI report released last month found that hate crimes against Muslim Americans rose 67 percent in 2015. Lynch condemned the findings, which included a 6 percent increase in all hate crimes nationwide since last year.

“These numbers should be deeply sobering for all Americans,” she said on Nov. 11. “Some of these incidents happened at schools. Others have targeted houses of worship. And some have singled out individuals for attacks and intimidation.”

The FBI reported 5,850 incidents in 2015 but noted that many hate crimes go unreported and the number could be much higher.

The total included 257 hate crimes against Muslims last year, up from 154 the previous year and the highest number since post-9/11 2001.

Other communities that faced increased harassment included African-Americans, Jewish Americans and those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, according to the FBI.

Lynch pledged that the Justice Department and other agencies would more strictly enforce hate crime laws going forward.

“We still have a long way to go to ensure that every American can live free from the fear of violence or harassment based on what they look like, how they worship or whom they love,” she said.