COLUMBIA, S.C. — The FBI is making a concerted effort to tackle hate crimes in South Carolina and across the country through its new awareness campaign.
The federal agency announced on Friday that it was launching a new effort in the state to encourage the residents to report the crimes if they see them - or if they experience them.
The FBI's new hate crime push includes billboards, video messages at gas station pumps, cell phone advertisements, and recorded messages on the radio.
“No one should ever be subjected to hate crimes in our society,” said Susan Ferensic, the FBI special agent in charge of the Columbia field office, in Friday's announcement. “This campaign shows that the FBI is dedicated to pursuing offenders of these heinous crimes and holding them accountable.”
Citing the Department of Justice, the FBI defined a hate crime as one "motivated by bias against race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability."
Crime stats provided by the agency showed an increase in hate crimes reported from 2019 to 2020 in the U.S. That same data showed the trend mirrored in South Carolina with reported incidents rising from 57 in 2019 to 110 in 2020.
The data was part of the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program and included information from nearly 400 law enforcement agencies.
Those who feel they've witnessed or been a victim of a hate crime are encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or by submitting a tip at tips.fbi.gov.