FBI flags 3700% surge in hate crimes against Sikh in a decade in US
Although overall hate crime incidents in the US declined by 11 per cent in 2025 compared to the previous year, the broader trend remains upward, with total cases rising by around 88 per cent between 2015 and 2025.
PTC News Desk: Hate crimes against Sikhs in the United States have surged dramatically over the past decade, rising by an estimated 3,700 per cent, according to preliminary data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation cited by Axios. Reported anti-Sikh incidents increased from just six cases in 2015 to 228 in 2025, reflecting a sharp escalation in targeted violence.
Although overall hate crime incidents in the US declined by 11 per cent in 2025 compared to the previous year, the broader trend remains upward, with total cases rising by around 88 per cent between 2015 and 2025. This suggests that while year-to-year fluctuations occur, long-term patterns of bias-driven violence continue to grow.
Experts note that such crimes do not rise uniformly across communities. Instead, specific groups often face concentrated spikes driven by social narratives, political developments, or misinformation. Hate crime researcher Brian Levin said that when fear-based stereotypes intensify around a community, incidents targeting that group tend to increase sharply.
Sikhs are now among the most targeted religious minorities in the US. A 2025 report by the Sikh Coalition ranked Sikhs as the third most targeted religious group in 2024, after Jewish and Muslim communities. The report also pointed out that Sikh identity has only recently been tracked separately in federal hate crime data, raising concerns about long-term underreporting.
Other groups have also seen significant increases over the decade. Anti-transgender hate crimes recorded the steepest rise at 395 per cent, followed by anti-Latino incidents at 239 per cent, reaching a record 1,014 cases in 2025. Anti-Asian hate crimes rose by 195 per cent, while anti-Jewish incidents increased by 123 per cent, despite a recent decline after earlier spikes. Anti-Black hate crimes went up by 66 per cent, anti-white by 51 per cent, and anti-gay male incidents by 27 per cent.
Overall, the data highlights uneven but persistent growth in hate crimes across different communities. Analysts caution that despite annual fluctuations, the continued prevalence of identity-based violence points to gaps in prevention, reporting mechanisms, and community protection. The findings are likely to renew calls for stronger tracking systems, improved law enforcement response, and efforts to address the underlying causes of bias-driven crimes.