Pocono News Section

I-Team: Hate Crimes in Northeastern PA

I-Team: Hate Crimes in Northeastern PA - Friday, April 4, 2008 at 5:03PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Friday, Apr 4, 2008 @05:03pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- Hate crimes are actuallythe most under-reported crime in America . That could be because ofthe firestorm we saw in Wilkes-Barre this week after Anti-Semiticgraffiti found spray painted on a synagogue.

But experts say, hatecrimes are very common in our area. They're happening herein northeastern Pennsylvania , and hate groups aresetting up shop. Dr. Linda Trompetter ofthe Luzerne County Diversity Commissionsays, "They're here, they've been here for a long time, but they surface ithink when opportunities exist."

Trompetter says thestatistics are there to prove it. Between 2005 and 2006,19 bias-related crimes took place in Luzerne county, and 4 in Lackawanna county. Bias-related meanscrimes against a certain race, color, or religion.

Some of these crimes arecommitted by people affiliated with white supremacy groups - groups Trompettersays are on the rise in our area. She says, " Pennsylvania has one of the largestnumbers of hate groups in the country."

Up to 33 to be exact,according to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Earlier this year, KeystoneSkinheads posted fliers all across South Wilkes-Barre .

But last weekend, policesay 18-year-old Nora Rynkiewicz and a female juvenile weren't affiliated with awhite supremacist group when they allegedly spray-painted the Ohav Zedek Synagogue.

The commission saysthat's a scary developing trend. Arthur Breese of the LuzerneCounty Diversity Commission says, "The majority of the time these adultsare preying on our children and their recruiting them especially when theirminds are weak and they have little information or critical thinkingskills."

And the fact that asynagogue was targeted is troubling as well. FBI statistics show only4 churches, synagogues, or temples were targeted nationwide. A statistic that standsout, for a crime that can lie beneath the surface, until it's too glaring to ignore.

The Luzerne County DiversityCommission says the best way to confront hate crimes is by ceremony's like wesaw Thursday at Ohav Zedek. The commission says themore public officials speak out against hate crimes, and not chalk them up to"a stupid prank", the more you'll see a decline in those crimes.