Attorney General: Hate crimes are stain on America's "soul"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Sept. 22, 2016, file photo Attorney General Loretta Lynch takes a question during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. Hate crimes tear at the fabric of American communities and represent a stain on the country’s soul, Lynch said at a mosque and Muslim community center on Dec. 12. Lynch spoke at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center as law enforcement across the country confronts a spike in hate crimes targeting Muslims. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) (The Associated Press)
Attorney General Loretta Lynch says hate crimes tear at the fabric of American communities and are a stain on our "nation's very soul."
Lynch spoke Monday at a mosque in Virginia amid a large spike in hate crimes targeting Muslims.
Recently released FBI statistics show a 67 percent surge in hate crimes against Muslims in 2015, the highest total since the year of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lynch told the audience that the "sobering" increase in violence should alarm all Americans.
In an apparent reference to the incoming administration of President-Elect Donald Trump, Lynch said she recognized people's concerns that the progress the government has made in protecting civil rights could be rolled back.