Senate hate crimes hearing devolves when Republican tells Arab American witness to ‘hide your head in a bag’

A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing intended to address the growing number of hate crimes in the U.S. was overshadowed by inflammatorypolitical rhetoric, with anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes largely ignored by several Republican senators. The hearing, “A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America,” featured witnesses including Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute; Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center; and Kenneth Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate.

Berry, who also serves as co-chair of the Hate Crimes Task Force, sought to highlight the rise in hate crimes impacting marginalized communities, including Arab Americans, Jewish Americans, and LGBTQ+ people. However,Louisiana U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, aRepublican, used his time to aggressively question Berry about her stance on foreign policy, asking repeatedly, “You support Hamas, do you not?” and later, “You support Hezbollah too, don’t you?”

Despite Berry’s clear denials, Kennedy went so far as to say, “You should hide your head in a bag,” completely derailing the hearing’s focus on domestic hate crimes. Berry responded by highlighting that the senator’s questions reflected the very problem the hearing was supposed to address: the rise in hate and dehumanization. “It’s regrettable that I—as I sit here—have experienced the very issue that we’re attempting to deal with today,” she said.

Stern used his testimony to underscore the intersectional nature of hate in the U.S., noting that hate groups often target multiple marginalized communities. Stern warned that hate crimes are becoming more widespread, mainly fueled by online rhetoric. According to Stern, addressing the root causes of this hate, including the way it proliferates on social media, is critical to reducing its impact on vulnerable groups.

GLAAD, the LGBTQ+ media advocacy group, submitted astatement ahead of the hearing, citing alarming statistics on the rise of hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ individuals. According to GLAAD’s 2024 Accelerating Acceptancereport, anti-LGBTQ+ incidents have increased by 112 percent year-over-year between June 2022 and 2024, with attacks on transgender people rising 35 percent, according to the latest FBI data.

“Such fear-mongering and scapegoating of marginalized groups creates a dangerous environment for everyone,” GLAAD’s statement noted. The organization urged lawmakers to recognize how political rhetoric has fueled these hate crimes and to take action to protect LGBTQ+ people, especially as extremist legislation continues to target their rights.

According to GLAAD’s data, attacks on the LGBTQ+ community resulted in 21 deaths and more than 160 injuries. A significant portion of these incidents targeted transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, with many attacks occurring at community safe spaces like libraries and drag performances, which have become frequent targets of bomb threats and violent protests.

Sarah Moore, GLAAD’s extremism researcher, spoke with The Advocate after the hearing and expressed her disappointment at the lack of attention paid to LGBTQ+ hate crimes.

“We know that anti-LGBTQ incidents have been increasing dramatically over the last couple of years,” Moore said. She pointed out that political rhetoric is directly contributing to the rise in violence, particularly against soft targets such as libraries, schools, and LGBTQ+ events. “I would’ve loved to hear from some of the senators on how they plan to protect a number of these so-called soft targets. So, how are we protecting the spaces that are holding drag shows? How are we protecting the libraries that are receiving bomb threats over their LGBTQ+ inclusive books? How are we protecting the teachers having these really difficult conversations in classrooms and trying to navigate this landscape where a lot of the educational curriculum they’d like to put forth is being restricted at the state level?” Moore asked.

While some Democratic senators did mention anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes during the hearing, the overarching conversation was dominated by discussions of antisemitism on college campuses and the war in Gaza. Moore lamented that the hearing had not been a space to fully address how hate crimes affect all marginalized communities. “There are so many different incidents that are impacting the LGBTQ community, and I think it’s a real shame that this hearing wasn’t the place where folks were able to actually express that,” Moore said.