On Tuesday morning, news broke that Empire actor Jussie Smollett had been hospitalized after two people physically assaulted the actor, fractured his rib, tied a noose around his neck, and poured bleach on him. In a statement, the Chicago Police Department confirmed that they are investigating the incident as a “possible hate crime.”
After the assault, the New York City Anti-Violence Project released a statement emphasizing that “Jussie is not alone” in his experience. Gay Black men are among “some of the most vulnerable to violence in the LGBTQ community.”
And the data backs up NYCAVP’s statement. According to the latest numbers from the FBI, the number of hate crimes reported nationwide rose from 6,121 in 2016 to 7,175 in 2017. The most common types of hate crime incidents were based on the victim’s race (59.6%), religion (20.6%), and sexual orientation (15.8%). Of the 7,175 hate crimes reported, 7,106 were single-bias incidents while 69 were based on more than one bias.
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