Communities on edge as faith-based hate crimes spike across the West

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]18th May, as police circle the perimeter of the Islamic Center of San Diego, children shelter inside.

[00:00:09]>> I went inside the closet with my whole class. We heard like 12 or like 16 gunshots.

[00:00:16]>> 9-year-old Odeh Shanna recounts the terror when gunmen opened fire at the city's largest mosque. Three people were killed in the attack.

[00:00:27]>> The teachers and the kids were like shaking sad and stuff. And when the guy kicked the door, all of them were crying.

[00:00:35]>> The attack comes amid a rise in anti-Muslim incidents in the US. The Council on American Islamic Relations logged more than 8,600 complaints last year, the highest number of single-year complaints in three decades. But the surge in religiously motivated crimes is not limited to the Muslim community.

[00:00:57]Jewish groups are also reporting a spike in anti-Semitic incidents and attacks, including the March shooting at a synagogue in Michigan.

[00:01:07]The Anti-Defamation League says anti-Semitic assault, harassment, and vandalism in the US remain well above levels seen before the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the war in Gaza.

[00:01:23]>> It's almost as if we have two eras.

[00:01:27]Pre-October 7 and post-October 7.

[00:01:31]And in this new era, again, up 70% on 2022.

[00:01:38]American Jews report feeling unsafe in the communities where they've lived for generations, even centuries.

[00:01:46]Now, 2025 was also one of the most violent years for American Jews since ADL began tracking this information in the late 1970s.

[00:01:54]>> It's not just here in the US.

[00:01:57]Experts say the rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents stateside reflects a broader global pattern with authorities across several Western countries reporting sharp increases in faith-based hate crimes including in Australia and the UK.

[00:02:16]Islamophobia Register Australia found that since the 7th of October 2023, anti-Muslim incidents reported to the organization jumped more than fivefold.

[00:02:29]And last December, Sydney was rocked by a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach. 15 people were killed.

[00:02:38]In the UK, a recent stabbing in the Jewish community of Golders Green added to fears over religiously motivated crimes. Official UK data from 2025 shows Jewish communities face a higher rate of hate per person than any other faith. While offenses against Muslims logged the highest overall volume surging 19%.

[00:03:03]The attacks may span different countries and communities, but experts say that many of the same forces are driving them. Political polarization, online extremism, and divisive public rhetoric.

[00:03:19]Groups working with victims of hate crimes say those tensions are becoming increasingly volatile.

[00:03:26]>> Unfortunately, in the United States since 2015, we have had near record-high reports of hate crimes.

[00:03:32]Um, if you look at that timing, that was around the time that Donald Trump launched his first presidential campaign where we had also seen an increase in organized hate groups in the United States being more active and that has just been continuing for the past almost 10 years now. And so, what the government can do is one, use their positions of power um, responsibly, you know, to not spew hate, use the bully pulpit in a way that brings communities together instead of dividing.

[00:04:03]>> Experts warn that deepening political and social divisions are increasingly turning online hostility into real-world violence. And with conflicts abroad continuing to inflame tensions at home, whether in the US, Europe, or Australia, many fear that faith-based hate crimes will only continue to escalate.

[00:04:27]For CNN, I'm Kate Fisher in Washington.