An advocacy group says anti-Muslim hate crimes and religious discrimination appear to be rising in 2017.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has tracked anti-Muslim incidents since 2013. But the group says this year could be the worst yet.
CAIR says in the first half of 2017, hate crimes against Muslims were up 91 percent compared with the same time last year. And it says religious discrimination incidents against Muslims in that period were up 24 percent.
Government data also shows hate crimes against Muslims have been rising in recent years. The most recent FBI data available shows anti-Muslim crimes from 2014-15 rose more than any other hate crime that year.
Related Story
A Grant Is Finding And Funding Muslims To Tell Humanizing Stories
But for the communities affected, it's more than just stats.
"There's absolute, incredible, incredible anger. There's incredible fear. There's incredible concern that these things, which have continued to happen ever since, especially since the last year's election season, that it's going to continue to happen," said Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of Arab American Action Network in Chicago.
But also, there is solidarity and camaraderie.
"But the most important takeaway is that it's not only the Muslim community that's being targeted right now. There is a chance and a really important moment for us to come together with our brothers and our sisters in the Latino community, other indigenous communities," said community organizer Reema Ahmad.
