Hate in Connecticut and America: New Report Charts Rise of Incidents of Hatred after the Election

During a high school football game between Wilton and Danbury, Wilton students were heard chanting "Build the wall" at Danbury students.

In Portland, Oregon, graffiti spray-painted on a college bathroom wall read "The white man is back in power," and it was accompanied by a swastika and other messages of hate.

And in El Cajon, California, a typed note sent to a local business read, "BE PREPARED TO GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRY WITH ISIS... DONALD TRUMP WILL KICK ALL OF YOUR ASS BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM.

Those are just some of the nearly 900 incidents of hate collected by the Southern Poverty Law Center and discussed in "Ten Days After: Harassment and Intimidation in the Aftermath of the Election."

The incidents come from two sources - submissions to the #ReportHate on the center's website and media reports.

"In the ten days following the election, there were almost 900 reports of harassment and intimidation from across the nation," wrote authors Cassie Miller and Alexandra Werner-Winslow. "Many harassers invoked Trump’s name during assaults, making it clear that the outbreak of hate stemmed in large part from his electoral success.

"People have experienced harassment at school, at work, at home, on the street, in public transportation, in their cars, in grocery stores and other places of business, and in their houses of worship. They most often have received messages of hate and intolerance through graffiti and verbal harassment, although a small number also have reported violent physical interactions. Some incidents were directed at the Trump campaign or his supporters."

The center recognizes that the numbers in the report are without a certain context - that they can't compare it to the 10 days before the election or the ten days after the last election. Additionally, other organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, have also seen a rise in hateful and racist incidents around the country following the election.

The point of the report, the SPLC says, is to demonstrate the connection between the election and the incidents.

The center says that hate crimes and lower-level incidents of racial or ethnically charged harassment have long been common in the United States.

The center found reported incidents - and only so-called "real world" incidents were included as opposed to incidents reported only on social media - in 46 of the 50 states. Only North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Hawaii had no reported incidents.

California had the most reported incidents (99), followed by New York (69), Texas (57), Washington (48), Massachusetts (42), Michigan (40), Florida (37), Pennsylvania (36), Minnesota (34), and Oregon (33).

Connecticut had 12 reported incidents, according to the report. In addition, a Nazi flag was prominently displayed at the site of a Middlefield antiques store before it was taken down.

Nationally, most of the incidents - 206 - occurred in public places, followed by K-12 schools (183), Workplace/retail locations (162), University (140), Private places (109), Other public spaces (51), and Places of worship (16).

Anti-immigrant sentiment was the motivation of most (206) of the incidents followed by anti-black (187), anti-Semitic (100), anti-LGBT (95), anti-Muslim (49), and anti-woman (40).

There were also 23 reported incidents targeting supporters of Donald Trump.

The report found most of the incidents - 202 - happened in the 24 hours after the election with the numbers almost consistently dropping each day after that.

The authors of the report point out that the Sunday after the report Trump told 60 Minutes that he had been "surprised to hear" that his supporters had been using racial slurs and making threats against African Americans, Latinos, and gays.

They say that while Trump has disavowed these actions, it's not enough.

"He must speak out forcefully and repeatedly against all forms of bigotry and reach out to the communities his words have injured," they say. "Until president-elect Trump does these things, the hate that his campaign has unleashed is likely to continue to flourish."

Click here to read the full report, "Ten Days After: Harassment and Intimidation in the Aftermath of the Election," on the Southern Poverty Law Center website.

Photos: 1.) A message of love and tolerance sign in East Haddam that was defaced with the phrase "Trump 2016," photo credit: Sarah Walls; 2.) Map of post-election hate incidents via the Southern Poverty Law Center

— By Colin Miner (Patch Staff) and Alfred Branch (Patch Staff)