Oct 27, 2018 - Politics & Policy

Pittsburgh synagogue shooting likely deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history

Axios

Three women praying from a prayer book at the shooting scene. — Women pray from a prayerbook a block away from the site of a mass shooting in Pittsburgh. Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images.

Saturday's shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that took the lives of 11 people has been classified as a hate crime, and is likely the deadliest attack in American history on Jewish people in the U.S., according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Why it matters: The ADL's most recent audit of anti-Semitic incidents found that the number of such incidents in the U.S. went up 57% last year — "the largest single-year increase on record and the second highest number reported since ADL started tracking." The most recent FBI data shows that in 2016, more Jewish people in the United States were victims of reported hate crimes than any other religious minority.

By the numbers: 684 anti-Jewish incidents were reported in 2016, which is more than all other religiously motivated hate crimes combined, CNN reports. The FBI reports an overall increase in reported hate crimes of more than 4% from 2015 to 2016. The ADL's data shows a spike in cases of vandalism, harassment, and physical against Jewish people between 2016 (1,267) to 2017 (1,986.)

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Pittsburgh synagogue shooting likely deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history

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