More than 200 incidents of hateful harassment and intimidation across the US have been reported since Donald Trump won the presidential election, according to a group that tracks hate crimes in America.
“Since the election, we’ve seen a big uptick in incidents of vandalism, threats, intimidation spurred by the rhetoric surrounding Mr Trump’s election,” Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty law Centre (SPlC) in Montgomery, Alabama, told USA TODAY.
“The white supremacists out there are celebrating his victory and many are feeling their oats,” Cohen said.
The SPlC, which tracks hate crimes, said it has logged more than 200 complaints since the election, and while it could not provide a figure for the average number of complaints it takes in each day, Cohen assured that the number is much larger than what is typical.
Anti-black and anti-immigrant incidents are generating the highest numbers followed by anti-Muslim incidents, Cohen was quoted as saying.
Part of the reason it is happening is that hate group leaders are encouraging members to intimidate people, he said.