Stabbings And A Surge of Hate

Published May 31, 2017 at 9:00 AM CDT

People gather for a candlelight vigil at a bus shelter at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md, Sunday, May 21, 2017, where visiting student was fatally stabbed. A University of Maryland student was charged Sunday with fatally stabbing a visiting student on campus in what police have described as an unprovoked attack that rattled the school over graduation weekend. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The stabbings in Portland, Oregon and on the University of Maryland campus. We’ll look at the rise of hate in America.

Hate groups are multiplying quickly in the United States, and so are hate crimes. In Maryland and Oregon, two recent attacks aimed at minorities left three people dead. KKK chapters and Nazi insignia may be on the decrease, but hate groups disguised as nonprofits or think tanks are increasing. So are groups targeting college campuses. This hour, On Point: the insidious rise of hate in America, and what’s fueling its surge. — Sacha Pfeiffer

Guests

Maxine Bernstein, reporter at the Oregonian, covering crime, law enforcement and the federal courts. ( @maxoregonian)

Jeannine Bell, law professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. ( @jeanninelbell)

Kameelah Rashad, social justice advocate. Founding member of Muslims Make It Plain. One of 14 American Muslim leaders invited to attend a roundtable discussion with then-President Obama in 2015. ( @KameelahRashad)

Mat dos Santos, legal director for the ACLU of Oregon. ( @MatPDX)

From The Reading List

Oregonian: Portland MAX hero’s last words: ‘Tell everyone on this train I love them‘ — “Medics put Namkai-Meche on a stretcher. Macy stayed by his side. Before he was carried away, he had a last message, she said: ‘Tell everyone on this train I love them.'”

New York Times: Three Men Stood Up to Anti-Muslim Attack. Two Paid With Their Lives. — “Two of the men — Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, and Rick Best, 53 — died in the attack, which occurred on a commuter train. The third, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, was treated on Saturday for injuries that the police said were serious but not life-threatening.”

Baltimore Sun: Suspect in University of Maryland fatal stabbing held without bail, students say school must address racial tensions — “The killing — and the revelation that Urbanski, a 2013 graduate of Severna Park High School, was a member of a racist Facebook group — reignited a debate about racial problems at College Park after incidents including the discovery this month of a noose in a fraternity house and posters promoting white supremacy earlier in the year.”