Fatal shooting in Wyoming raises questions about racism — High Country News

13.8.15

Fatal shooting in Wyoming raises questions about racism — High Country News: “The FBI count is known to vastly under-report hate crime stats," says Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a progressive advocacy and research group. That's because motive can be hard to prove, so police departments are often reluctant to prosecute hate crime charges. Potok added that hate crimes against Native Americans have been on the rise over the last several years, a trend he believes is connected to a broader fear and anger among some white Americans about changing demographics. Potok believes that among Native Americans, there's a lot of underreporting for hate crimes due to distrust of police. "A lot of people feel like nothing will come of it, so it’s not worth reporting," he said.