--- title: Donald Trump: Racist Threats Increase After Election description: Since Election Day, states across the country have seen increased incidents of racist or anti-semitic vandalism and violence canonical: https://time.com/4569129/racist-anti-semitic-incidents-donald-trump/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-13T20:10:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:08.167Z article:section: Politics og:title: Racist Incidents Are Up Since Trump's Election. These Are Just a Few of Them og:description: The Southern Poverty Law Center received 200 hate crime reports since Election Day og:url: https://time.com/4569129/racist-anti-semitic-incidents-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt145df1a854e63b59/6988ae4f5f570fbb2bb2344c/trump-protest-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: People hold signs during a march and rally against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States in Los Angeles og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Racist Incidents Are Up Since Trump's Election. These Are Just a Few of Them twitter:description: The Southern Poverty Law Center received 200 hate crime reports since Election Day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt145df1a854e63b59/6988ae4f5f570fbb2bb2344c/trump-protest-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Racist Incidents Are Up Since Donald Trump's Election. These Are Just a Few of Them > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Museum of Tolerance: The Story of a Hate Crime [Watch (HLS stream): Museum of Tolerance: The Story of a Hate Crime](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JA8pNIvz.m3u8) (6:24)  _Published 2012-07-23. Two men, both involved in a hate crime years ago, reunite with a shared mission_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Nov 13, 2016 8:10 PM UTC  People hold signs during a march and rally against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States in Los Angeles on Nov. 12, 2016. People hold signs during a march and rally against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States in Los Angeles on Nov. 12, 2016. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Nov 13, 2016 8:10 PM UTC In the days since the [presidential election](http://time.com/4564440/donald-trump-wins-2/), states across the country have seen increased incidents of racist or anti-Semitic vandalism and violence, many of which have drawn directly on the rhetoric and [proposals](http://time.com/4569034/donald-trump-undocumented-immigrant-deportation/) of President-elect Donald Trump. The Southern Poverty Law Center has counted more than 200 complaints of hate crimes since Election Day, [according to USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/11/12/post-election-spate-hate-crimes-worse-than-post-911-experts-say/93681294/). “Since the election, we’ve seen a big uptick in incidents of vandalism, threats, intimidation spurred by the rhetoric surrounding Mr. Trump’s election,” Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center [told USA _Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/11/12/post-election-spate-hate-crimes-worse-than-post-911-experts-say/93681294/). “The white supremacists out there are celebrating his victory and many are feeling their oats.” Many advocacy groups have called on Trump to condemn such attacks and threats, but the President-elect has yet to do so. Here are a few examples: **Maryland** When the rector at the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Silver Spring, Maryland opened the church on Sunday morning, he found that a sign advertising Spanish services had been ripped and vandalized with the words, “TRUMP NATION WHITES ONLY.” The same message was written on a brick wall near the church’s memorial garden. “He was shocked and appalled, and everyone has been shocked and appalled,” Parish administrator Tracey Henley told TIME. “Montgomery County—it’s not the kind of place where racial incidents happen, but since last Tuesday they’ve been increasing in number.” Henley said other churches in the area, especially those with large Latino congregations, have been targeted in similar ways, and she worries the community will see more incidents of racism in the future. “A year ago, it wasn’t possible to be a racist bigot and get elected president,” she said. “People now feel free to say racist things that they wouldn’t have said before.” **New York** Swastikas were drawn on several doors in a residence hall at the New School in New York City on Saturday. Three Jewish women live in the suite where one of the swastikas was drawn, according to a [tweet](https://twitter.com/samlichtenstein/status/797470701523439616) from one of the students who lives there. “That someone would attempt to create fear amongst us is inexcusable. This is not what we as a community stand for, nor is it something we will tolerate,” New School President David E. Van Zandt said in a statement, calling the vandalism an “illegal, inflammatory and hurtful influence on our campus.” He said the New York City Police Department is investigating the incident, and campus security has been increased. “Hate speech is reprehensible, and has no place in NYC. To the affected, we stand with you. To the perpetrators, we are better than this,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. A residence hall at SUNY Geneseo was also vandalized with a swastika and the word “Trump” on Friday, the [Genesee Sun reported](http://geneseesun.com/swastika-and-trump-graffiti-appears-at-suny-geneseo/). **California** Anti-Semitic graffiti—including a swastika and the words “Heil Trump”—appeared at a bus stop at the University of California at San Diego on Thursday. In a statement, Hillel of San Diego said it worked with the office of Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Campus Police, and the Anti-Defamation League to ensure the graffiti was removed. **Pennsylvania** Black students at the University of Pennsylvania were [added to a racist GroupMe message](http://time.com/4568806/university-of-pennsylvania-racist-groupme-threats/) on Friday that included violent threats toward them. The messages were sent by someone using the name “Daddy Trump,” and the group was named “MudMen,” [Philly.com reported](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20161112%5FRacist%5Fmessages%5Ftarget%5Fblack%5Ffreshmen%5Fat%5FUPenn%5Fwith%5F%5Flynching%5F.html). Screenshots of the account shared on social media showed messages with racial slurs, a calendar invite for a “daily lynching” and old images of African-American lynchings. It also included references to Trump’s comments about [grabbing women by the genitals](http://time.com/4523526/donald-trump-women-leaked-audio/) without consent. **Michigan** A man threatened a Muslim student at the University of Michigan on Friday, demanding that she remove her hijab or be set on fire with a lighter, the [Detroit Free Press reported](http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2016/11/12/hijab-wearing-u-m-student-threatened-being-set-fire/93726806/). Police in Ann Arbor, Mich., are investigating the incident, and the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned it. “Our nation’s leaders, and particularly President-elect Donald Trump, need to speak out forcefully against the wave of anti-Muslim incidents sweeping the country after Tuesday’s election,” Dawud Walid, the chapter’s executive director, said in a statement. In a separate incident on Thursday, students at Royal Oak Middle School in Royal Oak, Mich., [chanted “build that wall!”](http://time.com/4567812/donald-trump-middle-school-build-wall/) during their lunch period, echoing Trump’s promise to build a wall on the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration. “In responding to this incident – indeed in responding to this election – we need to hear each other’s stories, not slogans, we need to work towards understanding, not scoring points, and we need to find a way to move forward that respects and values each and every member of our community,” Superintendent Shawn Lewis-Lakin said in a statement. ## Transcript >> It was just some talk on the street with street kids about if you go to Hollywood, you can make it. You'll be a success. You know, everyone there goes, you know, they become a star. So I fell for it. >> Matthew Bushar, the story is one of success in the City of Angels. But it's not in the way he imagined it. I knew I was gay. I don't think there's anything wrong with that and yet it made me a target for some horrific bullying incident in school. >> After months of enduring abuse. He simply did what any rational 13- year- old would do. He stopped pretending. When his devote catholic mother found out he was truing, she confronted her son. -[ unk ] it was because I was gay. He said, no you're not and she said, you'll never step foot in this house until you're done and not gay. And she dragged me across the floor and threw me out the door. >> So he scraped up enough for a bus ticket and landed in this park. >> I thought, well, the park. That's cool. I did that in San Francisco. I'll find a boyfriend, you know, this all be great. A hotdog stand across the street from the park called Oki- Dogs would occasionally provide a meal. But one night, 14 skinheads appear across the street. I heard one of them yell the phrase, " let's kill the faggot ." And I realized that my life at that point was in danger. >> Matthew then took off running down the alley but the mob had split in two and cornered him. >> They relentlessly started kicking, punching, knocking me down to the ground. The 14 skinhead also had razorblades in their boots, so as they were kicking, their goal and their intent was, you know, it wasn't at maximum damage, it was actually their intent was to kill the kid that was in the alley. >> Matthew miraculously survived and nursed his wounds alone for two months. >> And I just existed hour by hour and what would happen next. There's a part where you give in. Whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen and hopefully it's death. But he persevered. The 13- year- old who hopped on that bus to Hollywood, he made it out of the park, first by working at a fastfood restaurant and then as a hairstylist. He then found a job at the Museum of Tolerance, a unique multi- media museum examining racism and prejudice throughout the world and that was the perfect outlet for exactly what I was looking for. The museum seems to attract people with troubling pasts like Timothy Zall. [ unk ] many, many years where hate and violence for me was like breathing. I couldn't live without it. It's like being in a junky. >> And Tim recounts early childhood violence that let him down the path to become a white supremacist. >> My brother being shot by an African- American I think is the number 1 reason why I become a racist and extreme racist. He eventually served time after being convicted of assaulting an Iranian couple. The bars didn't change him though. All it took was a moment with his son. >> I'm in a grocery store with my son. He sees an African- American man in the store and says, " Look, Daddy. There's a big black ." and blurts out the N word and I'm starting to rethink my life, my living patterns, the kind of things that I was doing. >> Matthew and Tim were paired up to give presentations to youth and hate and recall one school group that changed their lives. >> Matthew wanted to discuss, you know, how best to approach this particular group and we went to have coffee and talk about the situation. >> In those first few months, I'm thinking of him as this really cool guy that I wanna get to know more about, which was why we reached to him when there was this issue at a school. And during our conversation we start to talk about where we used to hang out, you know, Hollywood. He was talking about Oki- Dogs and the park and I was talking about punk rock and Oki- Dogs and I said something like I quit going there because of violent behavior that was involved with and he sort to ask all these questions. >> So there is a moment I was absolutely disbelieved because you're just saying like this cannot possibly be true and at the same time you're like, " No. The only people who know what happened in the alley are me and 14 guys who were there. And I'm sitting across from one of those 14 ." The time, the place, it all started to tide up. There was the look and feel of the final boot that gave the pair or the proof they needed. >> And I also used to take the corners of razorblades and break them off and stick them in the toes, in the side of my boots and when I kicked him in the head he was out. >> So here they were, two men; a victim, a perpetrator-- Matthew and Tim kept their distance until Museum programmers got wind of their story and encourage them to begin a program called Hate to Hope. >> And I'm like, " Okay, well I don't really like him ." And it's like, well, that doesn't matter. You're just gonna tell the story. But I don't know if I can stand on a stage with him. I wasn't there yet. >> When we were sort of thrown together and I knew that there was a process to go through. I've got Facebook but Facebook's pretty cool 'cause it-- >> Myspace. >> Myspace. 'Cause it's got a bunch of-- >> But the beautiful part of all that is that we're simply just 2 people who are completely normal. Who doesn't get frustrated with their friends when they don't think they're doing what they want them to do and so on and so forth, and all those normal things. That's an incredible process. The one thing you begin to realize-- these two, they aren't so different. There's a common thread in that being feeling invisible and feeling to put down and feeling rejected and feeling not important and worthless as a child that led us in these different directions but meeting up twice in one life. >> For Time video, Sean Donnelly, reporting from Los Angeles, California. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4569129/racist-anti-semitic-incidents-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4569129/racist-anti-semitic-incidents-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Racist Incidents Are Up Since Donald Trump's Election. 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