Attorney General Kwame Raoul convened a roundtable meeting on Tuesday with representatives of leading civil rights organizations, places of worship and community-based groups to facilitate a conversation on fighting hate speech and targeted acts of violence in Illinois.
“I have made it a priority since taking office to ensure we are working in a comprehensive way to address the tragic rise in hate speech that often is directed at specific communities and can include violence,” Raoul said. “Collaborating with organizations on the ground working to advance justice and equality is vital as we look to continue focusing on confronting hate in all of its forms.”
Participating in the roundtable discussion were representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago, Bright Star Community Church, Chinese American Service League, Equality Illinois, Equip for Equality, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Illinois Department of Human Rights, Jewish United Fund / Jewish Federation of Chicago, and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
During the meeting, representatives from organizations in attendance described the issues facing the communities they serve, including threats based on immigration status, targeted acts of violence against faith-based communities, and coordinated attempts by extremist groups to restrict members of the LGBTQ+ community from using public spaces. The groups pointed out that such acts are often accompanied with hate speech.
“Illinois is a national leader in the fight against hate and bigotry, and a strong collaboration between governmental and community leadership is critical to addressing record levels of hate crimes and incidents,” said David Goldenberg, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League Midwest. “We are incredibly appreciative of Attorney General Raoul’s leadership in convening this group and taking the necessary action to ensure Illinois is no place for hate. Recent events underscore any community can be a target. When these acts occur, all of us must speak out, share facts, and show strength in the face of hate, extremism, and intolerance.”
Raoul gave an overview of his office’s work and recent accomplishments in addressing violence and hate, including:
- Partnering with the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) since 2019 to hold trainings on behavioral threat assessment designed to help prevent mass casualty attacks.
- Continuing to monitor progress of the Chicago Police Department to enact key consent decree reforms aimed at improving hate crime reporting and accountability and transparency with the public.
- Filing the Attorney General office’s first hate crime lawsuit against a mother and son who harassed and terrorized their Black neighbor in downstate Savanna.
- Advocating with fellow attorneys general in support of the rights of LGBTQ+ students
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