FBI Atlanta releases Hate Crime Response Guide amid rising incidents
ATLANTA - The FBI Atlanta Hate Crime Response Guide provides detailed steps on how individuals should respond if they become victims of a hate crime. The Atlanta Field Office began distributing the pamphlet earlier this week.
"It's important for us to put the information out to the public so that they can help us with our investigations, because it really starts with the public being able to make those reports to us in a timely and appropriate fashion," said FBI Atlanta Supervisory Special Agent Keith Kabrhel in an interview with FOX 5's Deidra Dukes.
Following the presidential election, Georgia residents reported receiving disturbing text messages suggesting they had been "selected to pick cotton" and threatening consequences if they failed to comply. Similar incidents targeting Black, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ individuals have been reported nationwide in recent weeks.
In South Fulton, a resident recently found a flyer containing anti-immigrant rhetoric at a local park, underscoring the ongoing wave of hateful messages.
Agent Kabrhel explained that hate crimes can occur in various forms and settings, such as through texts, emails, phone calls, or in-person incidents. "If something comes in the mail or somebody texts you a message or sends an email or a phone call, and sometimes hate crimes can happen in the street, in a parking lot, outside of a store, and all of those are different situations," Kabrhel said.
The pamphlet outlines critical steps for preserving evidence in hate crime cases. "So that if something is happening, they think quickly to preserve the evidence, because without evidence of a case, without being able to see the email or without being able to hear the message or see video of the altercation that created that hate crime, it's very difficult for us to prosecute a case and to investigate a case," Kabrhel added.
Individuals who receive messages or encounter incidents consistent with these descriptions are encouraged to report the details to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting tips online at tips.fbi.gov.