Hamilton has third most hate crimes in Canada

Hamilton is third in the country when it comes to hate crimes reported to police.  An average of 16 incidents per 100,000 people.

Recently, Statistics Canada reported that hate crimes in the country have risen 47% from 2016.

Hamilton has often been near the top of the list for prevalence of reported hate crimes.

Hussein Hamdani had planned to speak about racism at Friday prayers even before he heard that Hamilton was third in the country for reported hate crimes.

These Islamic prayers were held in a united church on Hamilton Mountain.

At the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, Princewill Ogban agrees people may just be reporting more racism and collecting proof.

Janice Floyd was enjoying a Hamilton trail walk when she came across hateful messages written in snow last week. She posted them on social media.

Last summer, an incident was caught on camera at Walmart.

Ogban says he wonders why the perpetrator wasn’t charged with a hate crime.

Hamilton Police say they record incidents of hate and send the data to Stats Canada, but it’s up to the courts to decide if a crime was motivated by hate. Still, they encourage people to report racism.