Anti-Hate Initiative Ramped-Up with a Focus on Education, Prevention and Accountability

The borough’s Hate Crimes Task Force (HCTF) on August 4, 2021, unveiled its latest initiative in an ongoing fight against intolerance. The “Staten Islanders Against Hate” campaign includes digital and in-person elements that aim to inform the public about the HCTF; provide updates on the district attorney’s ongoing efforts to prevent and prosecute hate crimes, and provide an opportunity for everyone to get involved.

The initiative is centered around a new website SILOVE.ORG that District Attorney Michael E. McMahon unveiled at the  HCTF meeting.

 

“This new tool will provide information and resources for Staten Islanders of all ages to learn about hate crimes, as well as our efforts to prevent the spread of intolerance in our borough,” McMahon said. “We welcome all on Staten Island to join us in our effort to stop hate.”

The group also announced a “Day of Action,” in which the HCTF and community volunteers will ask businesses to place a “Staten Islanders Against Hate” banner in their window. More information on the initiative will be provided in the coming weeks.

The HCTF was formed in 2018 under the leadership of McMahon and Scott Maurer, CEO of the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island. It was in direct response to the mass shooting inside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Hate crimes on Staten Island are investigated by the district attorney’s Hate Crimes Unit and the Cyber Crimes Unit; in addition to the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Unit and Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism unit.

 

Mendy Mirocznik, President of the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island (COJO) and a member of the HCTF remarked, “that only through the combination of education, prevention and accountability will we be able to defeat the scourge in hate crimes. I credit District Attorney Mike McMahon and Scott Maurer, CEO and Executive Vice-President, COJO for bringing together a broad coalition of Staten Islanders who are helping to get the strong message out to the public that hate in any form has no home in Staten Island. The key is that this important educational and preventative measure is backed with a guaranty that if the educational and preventative component fail there will be serious accountability. This combination and strategy is what reinforces the message that hate crimes are taken seriously in Staten Island. My hope is that the HCTF shall succeed in educating the public and through a partnership of like-minded individuals the HCTF will be successful in preventing future hate crimes.”