Wisconsin Records 36% Uptick In Anti-Semitic Incidents In 2020

A new report released by Wisconsin’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) recorded a troubling 36% uptick in antisemitic incidents during the 2019-2020 period, which included instances of hatred directed against Jews, the spread of conspiracy theories, and a rise in hate group activity.

Source: 680 News

The audit included 99 reported and corroborated incidents, which reflected a 36% increase in incidents from 2019. The report included events that occurred in the State of Wisconsin, were committed by persons residing in the State of Wisconsin, were related to Wisconsin institutions, were related to or specifically responded to Wisconsin persons, and/or would otherwise go unreported if not reported within our audit.

Among the examples cited was an email sent to one Wisconsin mayor following an antisemitic incident that stated, “Lol, the man was right, his neighbor is a dirty Jew and Jews are responsible for organizing violent protests all over the country. This man should have never taken his neighbor’s sign, but these hate crime enhancements are a f***ing joke and makes me hate Jews even more.”

In one case, Jewish Action Milwaukee sent out texts about a post-election meeting, one respondent stated, “No Jews are the problems in this country they all in Hollywood they own all the banks they own all the media they own Jew York Do f*** off”.

Source: Urban Milwaukee

There was a significant spike in expressions of antisemitism in comparison to years prior. “Part of this spike may be attributed to COVID-19 pushing some hateful expression online instead of in person, further illustrated by the spike in social media incidents,” the report commented.

Meanwhile, there was a 12% increase in the number of incidents with Holocaust, Nazi, or Hitler references. Some of these trends include Holocaust denial, minimizing the Holocaust by comparing it to mask mandates and 16 incidents including a swastika.

Of the 12 incidents involving hate groups, ten were concerned with white supremacists. The report mentioned several cases of far-right groups targeting Jews, among them a flyer from the White Aryan Resistance that was distributed on dozens of front lawns. The flyer declared: “Jews Will Not Replace Us! The destruction of the White Race is engendered in Judaic world control. We defy their attempt to replace us with other races.”