Antisemitism, Anti-Muslim, Anti-Palestinian, Bigotry, Racism and Hate Crimes in the USA

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Barstool Sports founder says he will send customers behind antisemitic sign to tour Auschwitz

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy says he will send two customers to tour a former Nazi concentration camp after they allegedly engaged in antisemitic behavior at a Barstool pub in Philadelphia. Read More.

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? Attacks on Muslims flood mainstream

Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary triggered a wave of Islamophobic attacks — including from sitting members of Congress — that once might have disqualified the perpetrators from public office.

• Why it matters: Openly racist rhetoric has become normalized at the highest levels of American politics, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.

? Between the lines: The fractured media ecosystem — splintered into hyperpartisan echo chambers — has made the public shaming of racism less effective.

• Attacks that once would have drawn bipartisan outrage now circulate with impunity — especially on social media platforms, where hate can go viral.

Driving the news: Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) urged the Justice Department to denaturalize and deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a U.S. citizen in 2018.

• Under federal law, denaturalization is an extreme measure typically reserved for cases involving fraud during the naturalization process.
• "Zohran 'little muhammad' Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York. He needs to be DEPORTED," Ogles posted on X.

The big picture: Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents both reached an all-time high in 2024, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Anti-Defamation League, respectively.

• The mainstreaming of Islamophobic rhetoric in political discourse comes a decade after President Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" as part of his 2016 campaign.

Catch up quick: Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by assembling a young, multiracial coalition in one of the nation's largest and most diverse cities.

• That coalition included progressive Jewish voters in Manhattan, college-educated liberals in Brooklyn's Park Slope and working-class communities in Queens.

? MAGA activists and Republican lawmakers took to social media to attack Mamdani's faith, heritage and left-wing politics.

• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted an AI-generated image of the Statue of Liberty wearing a black burqa.
• Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) tied Mamdani's victory to what she called America's "forgetting" of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"Wow. Just wow," James Zogby, co-founder of the Arab American Institute, told Axios after reviewing the posts.

• Keep reading.

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Musk's Grok praises Hitler

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk's AI platform Grok faced backlash yesterday for repeatedly using antisemitic language in its replies on X, Axios' Herb Scribner and Scott Rosenberg write. The big picture: Grok's posts featured violent depictions of sexual assault, as well as praise for Adolf Hitler (more than once) and white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Musk said on Friday that the company had "improved Grok significantly" — his latest attempt to retrain it to answer prompts more to his liking. Instructions for the chatbot, published by xAI, said that its responses "should not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect." Those instructions were removed last night. ? Zoom out: Grok will no doubt keep getting tweaks and revisions that might mitigate its most outrageous posts, but the larger problem is one Musk has intentionally chosen to create. After purchasing Twitter, now X, he changed policies to tolerate a wide range of extremist views, including open avowals of Nazi allegiance and other forms of hate speech. Then Musk trained his new AI model, Grok, on X's content. The resulting chatbot is just reflecting X's atmosphere back at us. Keep reading.

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Hate speech

When Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot began spewing out offensive responses to queries on X, some users were shocked. But artificial intelligence experts were not. They say large language models can be nudged into reflecting antisemitic, misogynistic or racist statements.

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Hulk Hogan’s death resurfaces painful contradictions for Black wrestling fans

One of Kazeem Famuyide’s earliest memories is sitting on his father’s lap watching Hulk Hogan wrestle in the 1988 Survivor Series.

https://apnews.com/article/hulk-hogan-death-black-americans-wrestling-legacy-bde576793d6de5954d8b903f33de5fb7?

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Minnesota woman charged for using racial slur against Black child as her fundraising tops $800,000

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota prosecutors filed misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges Tuesday against a woman accused of using a racist slur against a Black child at a playground — an incident the woman has since used to raise more than $800,000 after she appealed for help with relocating.

https://apnews.com/article/woman-racist-slur-video-black-child-minnesota-76d527799d0c22bd4fb0c715c69ecf39?

ps:Wow making money off of being a racist! What boggles the mind is people just loving to give money to a racist for saying what she said!!!!! What an ugly world we live in!! Lord please come soon is my prayer!!!!!

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Students charged with hate crime after pork is tossed into a Jewish fraternity on Rosh Hashana

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Two Syracuse University students face hate crimes charges after authorities say one of them tossed a bag of pork into Jewish fraternity house during a Rosh Hashanah celebration.

https://apnews.com/article/syracuse-university-rosh-hashana-hate-crime-pork-401527c4be4961c83d38cd98d7ac45a6?

[bonnie1962]

On 8/28/2025 at 5:37 PM, phkrause said:

Minnesota woman charged for using racial slur against Black child as her fundraising tops $800,000

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota prosecutors filed misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges Tuesday against a woman accused of using a racist slur against a Black child at a playground — an incident the woman has since used to raise more than $800,000 after she appealed for help with relocating.

https://apnews.com/article/woman-racist-slur-video-black-child-minnesota-76d527799d0c22bd4fb0c715c69ecf39?

ps:Wow making money off of being a racist! What boggles the mind is people just loving to give money to a racist for saying what she said!!!!! What an ugly world we live in!! Lord please come soon is my prayer!!!!!

To say the woman is completely in the wrong is putting it mildly. However  I have never understood this in view of the first amendment. I am originally from a small scandinavian  town in Northern MN. Pretty equally between Swedish and N orwegian . Each side hated and ridiculed the other. I am Swedish and Scottish. One of the nicer names I recall Swedish be called filthy whoremongers. Never could figure out why. If anyone had ever claimed to be traumatized they would have been laughed out of town. Name calling is far from pleasant on the receiving end but this looks like a money grab. The more attention given to this the bigger the offense is going to be

According to the article this child is traumatized and the family has been adversely impacted. With the  noise being made out of some name calling it is no wonder the child is having  dfiicult  time.  The family seems to have done alright with over 300,000 in donation

 

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Racists are now openly targeting Indian Americans

Last month, FBI Director Kash Patel wished his followers on X a happy Diwali. It did not go over well.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/16/us/indian-americans-racism-maga-cec?

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Influencers play detective

Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

As police scoured New England this week for the gunman who killed two people at Brown University, a parallel manhunt erupted online, falsely targeting a Palestinian student, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Authorities say the real suspect, a Portuguese national also linked to the slaying of an MIT professor, was found dead Thursday in New Hampshire. Why it matters: Social media influencers who play detective after tragedies are getting it disastrously wrong — falsely accusing innocent people of crimes with little evidence, massive reach and virtually no accountability. The speculation is often stoked by ideological accounts that seize on "clues" reinforcing their worldviews. Corrections are exceedingly rare — and seldom travel as far as the original claims. ? Zoom in: Mustapha Kharbouch was never named by police as a suspect in the shooting that killed two Brown students, including Ella Cook, the vice president of the Brown College Republicans. Kharbouch was targeted online after his student profile disappeared from the university's website — a move MAGA-aligned accounts seized on as supposed evidence of a cover-up. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said Tuesday there were many reasons the pages could have been taken down — including to prevent doxxing — and warned that online vigilantes were heading down a "really dangerous road." The frenzy only accelerated from there. Popular right-wing figures and large anonymous accounts cast Kharbouch's identity — Palestinian, openly queer and outspoken on Gaza — as inherently suspicious. "The past few days have been an unimaginable nightmare," Kharbouch said in a statement. "I woke up Tuesday morning to unfounded, vile, Islamophobic, and anti-Palestinian accusations being directed toward me online." ? Between the lines: Online sleuths have a long history of misfires, most infamously during the manhunt after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. But what has changed is the speed of misinformation, and the influence of those spreading it. Shaun Maguire, a prominent pro-Trump venture capitalist, claimed Kharbouch was "very likely" the shooter and falsely suggested that the slain MIT professor, Nuno Loureiro, was Jewish and pro-Israel. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist with outsized influence in the Trump administration, continued to claim the shooter was a "Muslim who shouted 'Allahu Akbar'" — even after authorities identified the suspect as Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente. Even Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, a senior Justice Department official, amplified claims that Brown's removal of Kharbouch's student pages was suspicious. Read on.

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Antisemitism: Ancient Hatred, Modern Violence

In October 2025, the Museum opened a new installation on the history of violent antisemitism before, during, and after the Holocaust, including contemporary events. Given the global surge in violent antisemitic incidents, educating the public has never been more urgent.

https://www.ushmm.org/support/why-support/antisemitism-ancient-hatred-modern-violence-message?

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As antisemitism rises, Josh Shapiro turns toward his Jewish faith Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, may be the nation’s most prominent Jewish politician as antisemitism surges across America, and he’s made his religion central to his political identity. At this pivotal moment, as he heads toward a dominant reelection in Pennsylvania that might propel him into the next presidential campaign, the 52-year-old governor is attempting to straddle an almost impossible chasm as both a Jewish progressive and a Zionist. Read more.

Why this matters: Perhaps more than any other issue, Shapiro’s ability to navigate personal and political risks related to his faith will ultimately determine how far he can rise in an evolving Democratic Party.   There’s never been a Jewish president or vice president, and few leading Democrats lean into their faith as openly as Shapiro. He observes Shabbat every Friday night with his family. His children go to Jewish day school. On the campaign trail, he speaks openly about his spiritual values.   The governor says he and his family face new incidents of antisemitism on a regular basis, citing most recently the arrest of a man near Harrisburg charged with making terroristic threats and stalking.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Justice Department suit accuses UCLA of failing to protect Jewish employees from campus hostility Australia begins sweeping public inquiry probing antisemitism after Bondi Beach killings Member of Trump's Religious Liberty Commission ousted in dispute over antisemitism

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US Jews grapple with a surge in attacks and bitter rifts over Israeli policies  For many U.S. Jews, following current events these days can be emotionally tumultuous. Simultaneously, there is widely shared anger at the upsurge of attacks targeting their communities, and deep divisions within those communities over whether to support or oppose various policies and actions by Israel in the conflict-wracked Middle East. Read more.

Why this matters: Just last week, there was unified condemnation of the attack by a man who drove his pickup truck into a Detroit-area synagogue where more than 100 children were attending a preschool program. The driver, who had lost family members during an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, exchanged gunfire with a guard before killing himself.     Several Jewish leaders — while sometimes critical of Israeli government policies — say it’s wrong to hold American Jews accountable for the actions of a foreign government.     One critic of Israeli policies, author and commentator Peter Beinart, joined in condemning the Michigan attack, but urged synagogues not to display “We stand with Israel” signs.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Man who rammed into Michigan synagogue had just lost family in an Israeli strike in Lebanon  Joe Kent’s resignation over Iran war reignites antisemitism fears and debate over Israeli influence  Israel is rapidly killing Iran’s top leaders. Experts warn the strategy could backfire

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Antisemitic attacks in 2025 caused highest number of deaths in 30 years, study finds

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Last year saw the highest level of deadly violence against Jews around the world in over three decades, with 20 people killed in antisemitic attacks, according to an annual study released by Tel Aviv University on Monday.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-antisemitism-holocaust-bondi-australia-attacks-report-6b50a82aee9c310418a29b5da5c96c28?

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📈 Worst in 46 years

Data: Anti-Defamation League annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents. Chart: Russell Contreras/Axios Russ Contreras, who covers religion and crime for Axios, got an advance look at eye-opening data out this morning: Physical assaults against Jewish people in the U.S. last year reached the highest level since 1979, the Anti-Defamation League reports today. Why it matters: The number of anti-Jewish harassment and vandalism incidents declined in 2025, but that didn't extend to reduced violence. ADL counted 6,274 antisemitic incidents in 2025, down 33% from 2024, but still the third-highest year on record. Last year saw 203 anti-Jewish assaults, up from 196 in 2024. Of those, 32 assaults involved deadly weapons, up from 23 in 2024. Nearly half of incidents (45%) were related to Israel or Zionism, down from 58% in 2024 but far above the roughly 10% share in the years before October 7, 2023. 🔎 Zoom in: Three people were killed in antisemitic attacks in 2025. It was the first year since 2019 that Jewish people were murdered in the U.S. due to antisemitic violence. Those attacks include a shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C., a Molotov cocktail attack at a rally for Israeli hostages in Colorado and a stabbing of a Jewish man in New York. A firebomb hit Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence just hours after a Passover celebration. 🌐 The big picture: Antisemitism isn't just a U.S. trend, and it's rising, often tied to geopolitical conflict in Gaza and Iran. In Europe, a wave of stabbings, arson attacks and synagogue vandalism has prompted counterterrorism probes and heightened security for Jewish communities. Global incidents spiked alongside the conflict, with one analysis finding a 34% surge in antisemitism worldwide after fighting escalated. Between the lines: U.S. college campuses saw the steepest drop in antisemitic incidents: ADL recorded 583, down 66% from 1,694 in 2024. Incidents tied to anti-Israel protests fell 83% on campuses.

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Explosion of antisemitism

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images

Antisemitism is so resurgent in U.S. politics that some of the worst hate speech you've ever heard has become a part of day-to-day life for Jewish politicians, Axios' Andrew Solender writes. Gone are the days of veiled insinuations and dog whistles. The hate is direct, explicit and shockingly casual, two dozen members of Congress and candidates told Axios. 🏛️ Hatred pours forth in calls and emails to their offices, comments on social media, and has even infiltrated campaign ads. Axios reviewed dozens of antisemitic voicemails, letters and emails to the offices of Jewish House members, Democrats and Republicans. "We've crossed the Rubicon," said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.). Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), whose office has received antisemitic voicemails, told Axios it's not a Republican or Democrat issue: "Both ends of our parties are wackadoos who hate Jews." Several antisemitic incidents have rocked American politics over the last two weeks: 1. A hard-right PAC backing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) ran an ad portraying Jewish donor Paul Singer alongside a Star of David. Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) called it "the most brazen example of an antisemitic political ad that I have seen in years." The ad set off frenzied private discussion among Congressional Jewish Caucus members, with lawmakers rattled about the state of American political discourse, according to multiple sources. 2. William Paul, son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), went on an antisemitic tirade directed at Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) — who isn't Jewish — at Tune Inn on Capitol Hill on Tuesday evening, according to NOTUS. The younger Paul told Lawler that if Massie loses reelection, it's because of "you Jews," calling Jews "anti-American." Paul later apologized and said he will seek "help for my drinking problem." 3. A left-wing sex therapist running for Congress in Texas, Maureen Galindo, was revealed to have posted antisemitic rants complaining about what she described as the "Jews who own Hollywood" and "the synagogue of Satan." Galindo finished first in a Democratic House primary in March and is now in a runoff. 4. California gubernatorial candidate Don Grundmann, an independent, got a statement published in the state's official voter guide reading in part: "We are 'goyim' (less than human animals/cattle) that they will enslave." The bottom line: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said he's seeing "a level of naked antisemitism, naked Jew hatred … that isn't thinly veiled anymore, it's just direct."