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Hate crimes and reports of bias-motivated incidents rose for the third straight year amid the global pandemic and periods of racial unrest in New Jersey, data released by the New Jersey State Police and Division on Civil Rights shows.

The Garden State saw 1,871 reported bias incidents in 2021, according to preliminary data made public on Friday. Thats a 29% increase from 2020, which saw 1,447.

Part of that increase comes from streamlined reporting practices in recent years and better awareness among the public, but social and political turmoil was also a major contributor, authorities said.

Its unacceptable and I want all of New Jerseys residents to know were tackling it head-on, acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin told NJ Advance Media on Friday.

The 2021 data is preliminary, but investigators at the Division on Civil Rights also dug into the 2019 and 2020 data and found the global pandemic, backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement and the contentious 2020 presidential election all contributed to the rise, authorities said.

State data shows the trajectory of reported bias incidents in New Jersey over the years.

The events of 2020 could not go unexplored or unexplained, Aarin Michele Williams, the interim head of strategic initiatives and enforcement at the division, wrote in an introduction to the report.

Read the full report here.

These numbers represent people, families, and our communities. Our family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors are being terrorized, dehumanized, and excluded by people who feel empowered to inflict this harm and violence, Williams said.

Hate crimes and bias incidents are rising nationally, though it is difficult to compare New Jerseys numbers with other states because, overall, bias incident reporting remains inconsistent in other jurisdictions. New Jersey overhauled its guidelines for how departments investigate and report hate crimes in 2019.

Anti-Black bias remained the number-one motivating factor in reported incidents in both 2020 and 2021, with anti-Jewish bias being the second-largest contributor, according to the state data.

New Jerseys LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender New Jerseyans, experienced a significant increase in bias incidents over that same period. And Anti-Asian incidents, while representing 6 percent of the incidents overall in 2021, rose sharply from 69 in 2020 to 129 in 2021.

Authorities said they attributed at least some of these spikes to increasingly hostile rhetoric targeting gay and transgender people, blaming Asian countries for COVID-19 and backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement.

Theres no question that the rhetoric out there is having a real-world impact, Platkin said. People need to be careful with the language then are using, because these are not empty words.

Bias incidents are defined as suspected or confirmed offenses motivated by a victims perceived or actual race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, gender identity or gender expression.

The incidents contained in the Attorney Generals report are based on bias incident reports submitted by every law enforcement agency in the state.

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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com.

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Hate crimes, bias incidents in N.J. spiked again in 2021 for third year in a row - NJ.com

Jonny Gould told GB News that football's authorities have left the issue of whether or not to continue taking the knee up to the players

Broadcaster and journalist Jonny Gould has told Nigel Farage he was subjected to "appalling racism" after expressing a "personal" view about taking the knee.

In an exclusive interview, Mr Gould told the GB News presenter: "I spoke out about it on a personal basis."

The broadcaster then claimed he was racially abused for expressing these views.

"I was subjected to appalling racism," the Aston Villa fan said.

Mr Gould also discussed the Premier League's stance, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings takes a knee prior to the Premier League match at Villa Park, Birmingham. Picture date: Sunday April 4, 2021. Nick Potts

He argued that football supporters failed to adequately research Black Lives Matter.

"We didn't do our due diligence about them at all," Mr Gould said.

He continued: "Richard Masters at the Premier League decided it was a good idea."

Discussing the continued taking of the knee by Premier League players to the start of matches, the broadcaster commented: "That knee thing still happens.

"And now what they've done is put it into the hands of the players to decide when it's going to stop."

Asked what he made of players taking the knee, Mr Gould said: "That knee thing, it's a problem."

Villa defender Tyrone Mings hit out at Home Secretary Priti Patel last year after she described players taking the knee as gesture politics.

Following racist abuse directed at England players following the Euro 2020 final defeat at Wembley, the centre-back of Priti Patel: You dont get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as Gesture Politics & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing were campaigning against, happens.

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Broadcaster claims he suffered 'appalling racism' for comments on taking the knee - GB News

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) Indianapolis Public Librarys Central Library is in its first phase of engraving the names of 10 famous Black writers on its walls.

Its been a long time coming. 105 years later, we are beginning to correct the narrative, said Dr. Michael Twyman, a longtime patron and the donor for the name-engraving project.

On Friday, the library unveiled the names of African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, American author Zora Neale Hurston, author Phillis Wheatley, writer James Baldwin, American poet Maya Angelou, American novelist Toni Morrison, American historian W.E.B. Du Bois, American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, American poet Langston Hughes, and American novelist Richard Wright.

The names joined a pre-existing display of 76 other literary greats, the vast majority who were white men and a few white women.

Over the years, the library had two opportunities to add more names to its list, and none of them included Black writers until now.

I think it is phenomenal. Who doesnt want their story to be told? With all thats happened in the world due to the pandemic. We have been reading more. We had the Black Lives Matter movement. Exposing people to the stories, said Iagner Blade, a library patron.

Another patron, Lewis Single, added, This expansion helps people realize how many great authors there are, who come from all walks of history.

The project costs $47,000, and plans call for adding the names of more people in a second phase.

For now, supporters are proud of the librarys progress and believes the new additions better reflect the city.

To have names that represent us as a community and a society can be very affirming. For young people and all people of different cultural identities, it is a way to engage and be more inclusive and representative of the diverse culture in Indianapolis and our country, Twyman said.

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Black writers added to author engravings at downtown Indy library - WISH TV Indianapolis, IN

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN A Park Slope butcher shop forced to close last year after employees staged a walkout over the removal of signs supporting Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ movements recently reopened.

Fleisher's, a sustainable butcher shop, welcomed customers into its Fifth Avenue outpost in Park Slope for the first time in about eight months this weekend, the company announced.

All four of the butcher shop's locations including two others in Manhattan closed their doors last summer after three dozen workers walked out when the CEO took down the aforementioned signs at the behest of an investor, Patch reported, noting that the CEO later put the signs back up, but not before the mass walkouts.

"I don't feel safe coming into work," Ajani Thompson, the only Black employee at the Park Slope shop, told Forbes at the time, which was the first outlet to report the news.

Thomson added that John Adams, who was Fleisher's newly-minted CEO at the time, missed an opportunity to earn the trust of employees.

"You were trying to get our trust, and I don't feel comfortable here," Thomson told the outlet, echoing a sentiment felt by many of Fleisher's staff at the time, at least half of whom reportedly identified as BIPOC, nonbinary, or queer.

Adams told Eater that the company doesn't plan on posting any public statements about the incident (and has been reportedly deleting negative comments on Instagram posts announcing its reopening), and has instead decided to not display any signage in its windows going forward.

"It's not appropriate for our company," Adams told the outlet. "If I'm really going to be fair and balanced, that means I will let all signs up in the window. And we can't do that."

Instead, Adams said that he plans to provide more support for employees, like donating food to charities of their choice, and paying higher wages (before he took over the company wasn't paying its employees enough, he acknowledged in an interview with Eater).

Robert Rosania, who reportedly directed Adams to take down signs, is still an investor at the company, though he is no longer the majority investor, the CEO told Eater.

Fleisher's is now employing 15 to 20 staffers, one-third of whom worked at the butcher in the past.

The shop's other three stores remain closed, according to the butcher's website, but the company said it is slowly reopening in the region.

Patch editor Anna Quinn contributed to this report.

Related Article: Park Slope Shop Closes After Staff Walkout Over BLM Sign Removal

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After BLM Controversy Last Year, Park Slope Butcher Reopens - Patch

Protesters march in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Aug. 28, 2020. (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Note: For more recent data on this topic, read this September 2021 post.

As racial justice protests have intensified following the shooting of Jacob Blake, public support for the Black Lives Matter movement has declined, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. A majority of U.S. adults (55%) now express at least some support for the movement, down from 67% in June amid nationwide demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd. The share who say they strongly support the movement stands at 29%, down from 38% three months ago.

See also: Americans have heard more about clashes between police and protesters than other recent news stories

Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand how Americans attitudes toward the Black Lives Matter movement have changed since George Floyds death. The data was collected as part of larger surveys conducted June 4-10 among 9,654 U.S. adults and Sept. 8-13 among 10,093 adults. Everyone who took part is a member of the Centers American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATPs methodology.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology.

The Black Lives Matter movement has been back in the spotlight due to this summers protests. The new survey findings come as confrontations between protesters and police have escalated in some cities and as President Donald Trump has stepped up his criticism of the movement.

The recent decline in support for the Black Lives Matter movement is particularly notable among White and Hispanic adults. In June, a majority of White adults (60%) said they supported the movement at least somewhat; now, fewer than half (45%) express at least some support. The share of Hispanic adults who support the movement has decreased 11 percentage points, from 77% in June to 66% today. By comparison, support for the Black Lives Matter movement has remained virtually unchanged among Black and Asian adults.

Support for the Black Lives Matter movement remains particularly widespread among Black adults. Some 87% of Black Americans say they support the movement, similar to the share who said this in June. However, the share of Black adults expressing strong support for the movement has decreased 9 points, from 71% to 62%.

The partisan divide in support for the Black Lives Matter movement which was already striking in June has widened even more. Among Republicans and those who lean to the Republican Party, about two-in-ten (19%) now say they support the movement at least somewhat, down from four-in-ten in June. The share of Democrats and Democratic leaners who support the movement (88%) has not changed considerably.

The partisan gap is similar among White adults. About nine-in-ten White Democrats (88%) express at least some support for the Black Lives Matter movement, compared with 16% of White Republicans. And while about half of White Democrats (51%) say they strongly support the movement, just 2% of White Republicans say the same.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology.

CORRECTION (October 2020): The methodology section has been updated to reflect the correct cumulative response rate. None of the study findings or conclusions were affected.

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Black Lives Matter support down since June, still strong ...