Groups: More than 860 hate incidents since elections

By Jesse J. Holland

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - Civil rights groups called for President-elect Donald Trump to forcefully and publicly denounce racism and bigotry, pointing to more than 860 bias-related incidents recorded in the 10 days following his Nov. 8 victory.

After running a divisive campaign, Trump promised - after winning - to be a president for all Americans, said representatives of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Council of La Raza and the American Federation of Teachers.

Trump needs to follow through on that pledge and publicly denounce the biasand hate-related incidents that popped up around the country, said Richard Cohen, SPLC's president.

'One of our great, great hopes at the Southern Poverty Law Center is that Mr. Trump mightily disappoints the white supremacists, the white nationalists who are celebrating his victory now,' Cohen said.

In an interview on '60 Minutes,' Trump - when told about some of the harassment - said if it was his supporters for them to 'stop it.' In an interview with The New York Times, Trump denounced the white supremacist movement when asked. But he needs to do more, the groups said.

'A president-elect has to create a climate that keeps all Americans safe,' said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. In the 10 days following the November election, SPLC said it collected 867 hate-related incidents on its website and through the media from almost every state. Their numbers exclude reports of online harassment. The group has not independently verified each claim but said it has weeded out reported hoaxes.

Anti-immigrant hate incidents targeting Latinos, Asians and Africans made up the largest number of claims, even though many Latinos and Asians in the U.S. are second- or third-generation American citizens. Those incidents were followed by anti-black and anti-Semitic incidents.

Schools and universities were the most common places for incidents to happen. Most often the incidents were through graffiti and verbal harassment, according to the SPLC.

For example, SPLC said a Colorado mother reported that her 12-year-old African- American daughter was approached by a boy who said, 'Now Trump is president, I'm going to shoot you and all the blacks I can find.' A Washington state teacher reported that 'Build a wall' was chanted in their lunchroom the day after the election.