hate

South Asians have played a prominent role in President Trump’s universe, especially in his second term.

Second Lady Usha Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants who came to California to study and never went back. Harmeet Dhillon, born in India and a devout Sikh, is currently his U.S. assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. And the head of the FBI, Kash Patel, is (like potential New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani,) of Indian descent by way of Uganda.

Some Republicans have taken pride in this kind of diversity, citing it for the gains Trump made in 2024 with Black and Latino voters.

But these days, the MAGA big tent seems to be collapsing fast.

Last week, MAGA had a total anti-Indian meltdown on social media, revealing a deep, ugly racism toward South Asians.

It comes amid the first real rebellion about rampant and increasingly open antisemitism within the MAGAverse, creating a massive rift between traditional conservatives and a younger, rabidly anti-Jewish contingent called groypers whose leader, Nick Fuentes, recently posted that he is “team Hitler.”

Turns out, when you cultivate a political movement based on hate, at some point the hate is uncontrollable. In fact, that hate needs to be fed to maintain power — even if it means feasting on its own.

This monster of white-might ugliness is going to dominate policy and politics for the next election, and these now-public fights within the Republican party represent a new dynamic that will either force it to do some sort of soul searching, or purge it of anything but white Christian nationalism. My bet is on the latter. But if conservatives ever truly believed in their inclusive talk, then it’s time for Republicans to stand up and demand the big Trump tent they were hailing just a few months ago.

Ultra-conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who opposes much of Fuentes’ worldview, summed up this Republican split succinctly.

Fuentes’ followers “are white supremacists, hate women, Jews, Hindus, many types of Christians, brown people of a wide variety of backgrounds, Blacks, America’s foreign policy and America’s constitution,” Shapiro explained. “They admire Hitler and Stalin and that splinter faction is now being facilitated and normalized within the mainstream Republican Party.”

MAGA’s anti-Indian sentiment had an explosive moment a few days ago when a South Asian woman asked Vice President JD Vance a series of questions during a Turning Point USA event in Mississippi. The young immigrant wanted to know how Vance could preach for the removal of nearly 18 million immigrants? And how could he claim that the United States was a Christian nation, rather than one that valued pluralism?

“How can you stop us and tell us we don’t belong here anymore?” the woman asked. “Why do I have to be a Christian?”

Vance’s answer went viral, in part because he claimed his wife, although from a Hindu family, was “agnostic or atheist,” and that he hoped she would convert to Christianity.

“Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that,” he said.

Vance later tried to do some damage control on social media, calling Usha Vance a “blessing” and promising to continue to “support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife.”

But many South Asians felt Vance was dissing his wife’s heritage and attempting to downplay her non-whiteness. They vented on social media, and got a lot of MAGA feelings back.

“How can you pretend to be a white nativist politician who will ‘bring america back to it’s golden age’ … when your wife is an indian immigrant?” wrote one poster.

Dhillon received similar feedback recently for urging calm and fairness after a Sikh truck driver allegedly caused a fatal crash.

“[N]o ma’am, it is CRYSTAL CLEAR that sihks and hindus need to get the hell out of my country,” one reply stated. “You and your kind are no longer welcome here. Go the [expletive] home.”

Patel too, got it, after posting a message on Diwali, a religious holiday that celebrates the victory of light over darkness. He was dubbed a demon worshipper, a favorite anti-Indian trope.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Duh, of course MAGA is racist.” But here’s the thing. The military has been scrubbed of many Black officers. The federal workforce, long a bastion for middle-class people of color, has been decimated. Minority cabinet members or top officials are few. Aside from another South Asian, Tulsi Gabbard, there’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez‑DeRemer and HUD head Scott Turner.

South Asians are largely the last visible sign of pluralism in Republican power, an erstwhile proof that the charges of racism from the left are unfair. But now, like Latinos, they are increasingly targets of the base.

At the same time anti-Indian hate was surfacing last week, a whole load of MAGA antisemitism hit the fan. It started when Tucker Carlson, who in his post-network life has re-created himself as a hugely popular podcaster with more than 16 million followers on X, invited Fuentes on his show.

In addition to calling for the death of American Jews, Fuentes has also said women want him to rape them and should be burned alive, Black people belong in prison and LGBTQ+ people are an abomination.

Anyone who is not his kind of Christian “must be absolutely annihilated when we take power,” he said.

Turns out far-right Charlie Kirk was a bulwark against this straight-up American Nazi. Kirk’s popularity kept Fuentes — who often trolled Kirk — from achieving dominance as the spirit guide of young MAGA. Now, with Kirk slain, nothing appears to be stopping Fuentes from taking up that mantle.

After the Fuentes interview, sane conservatives (there are some left) were apoplectic that Carlson would support someone who so openly admits to being anti-Israel and seemingly pro-Nazi. They demanded the Heritage Foundation, historical backbone of the conservative movement, creators of Project 2025 and close allies of Tucker, do something. The head of Heritage, Kevin Roberts, offered what many considered a sorry-not-sorry. He condemned Fuentes, saying he was “fomenting Jew hatred, and his incitements are not only immoral and un-Christian, they risk violence.”

But also counseled that Fuentes shouldn’t be banished from the party.

“Join us — not to cancel — but to guide, challenge, and strengthen the conversation,” Roberts said.

Are Nazis really all bad? Discuss!

The response from ethical conservatives — Jewish and non-Jewish alike — has been that you don’t politely hear Nazis out, and if the Republican Party can’t clearly say that Nazis aren’t welcome, it’s got a problem.

Yes, the Republican Party has a problem.

The right rode to power by attacking what it denigrates at “wokeism” on the left. MAGA declared that to confront fascism or racism or misogyny — to tell its purveyors to sit down and shut up — was wrong. That “canceling,” or banishment from common discourse for spewing hate, was somehow an infringement on 1st Amendment rights or even terrorism.

They screamed loud and clear that speaking out against intolerance was the worst, most unacceptable form of intolerance itself — and would not be tolerated.

You know who heard them loud and clear? Fuentes. He has checkmated establishment Republicans with their own cowardice and hypocrisy.

So now his young Christian white supremacists are empowered, and intent on taking over as the leaders of the party. Fuentes is saying what old guard Republicans don’t want to hear, but secretly fear: He already is dangerously close to being the mainstream; just read the comments.

Roberts, the Heritage president, said it himself: “Diversity will never be our strength. Unity is our strength, and a lack of unity is a sign of weakness.”

Trying to shut Fuentes up or kick him out will likely anger that vocal and powerful part of the base that enjoys the freedom to be openly hateful, and really wouldn’t mind a male-dominated white Christian autocracy.

The far right has free-speeched their way into fascism, and Fuentes is loving every minute of it.

So now this remaining vestige of traditional conservatives — including senators such as Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell — is faced with a painful reckoning. Many mainstream Republicans for years ignored the racism and antisemitism creeping into the party. They can’t anymore. It has grown into a beast ready to consume its maker.

Will they let this takeover happen, call for conversation over condemnation to the glee of Fuentes and his followers?

Or will they find the courage to be not just true Republicans, but true Americans, and declare non-negotiable for their party that most basic of American ideals: We do not tolerate hate?

New data has shed light on the alarming rise of “anti-LGBTQIA+ targeted hate and rhetoric.”

On 20 October, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) released a new report offering a five-year overview of the online and offline anti-LGBTQIA+ landscape.

“This Dispatch provides an overview of anti-LGBTQ+ mobilisation and how it is exacerbated by tech platforms,” researchers Guy Fiennes and Paula-Charlotte Matlach wrote.

“It incorporates activity which meets ISD’s definition of targeted anti-LGBTQ+ hate (‘activity which seeks to dehumanise, demonise, harass, threaten or incite violence against an individual or community based on their LGBTQ+ identity’), as well as activity which discriminates against LGBTQ+ people (and those perceived to be LGBTQ+), and which erases LGBTQ+ voices or rolls back LGBTQIA+ rights.”

Divided into two parts, the first half of the study presents statistics from various organisations highlighting the offline hate LGBTQIA+ people have faced across the US, UK and wider Europe.

In the US, more than 20 per cent of hate crimes recorded were motivated by anti-LGBTQIA+ bias for the third consecutive year, according to FBI crime data released in August 2025.

NGO GLAAD reported 918 anti-LGBTQIA+ incidents across the US in 2024, including seven fatalities and 140 bomb threats. Among those incidents, 48 per cent of victims were trans, non-binary or gender-nonconforming individuals.

The ISD report also included data from the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, which found that LGBTQIA+ people are five times more likely to be victims of violent crime in the US compared to non-LGBTQIA+ people, and nine times more likely to experience violent hate crimes.

While the latest UK crime statistics reported an 11 per cent decrease in annual anti-trans hate crimes and a two per cent decrease in hate crimes related to sexual orientation, there was a sharp increase in both categories between 2021 and 2022.

“ISD calculated that in the five years between 2020 and 2025, anti-trans hate crimes in the UK rose by 50 per cent, and sexual orientation crimes rose by 18.1 per cent overall. The vast majority of anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crimes are likely unreported,” the report revealed.

Across wider Europe, a 2023 EU Agency for Fundamental Rights survey found that violence and harassment against LGBTQIA+ people had increased from 11 per cent to 14 per cent, while anti-LGBTQIA+ bullying in schools jumped from 46 per cent to 67 per cent.

When examining government and legislative actions, all three countries showed an increase in anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment led by government officials and lawmakers. The Trump administration, the UK’s Reform Party and Hungary were listed among the biggest offenders.

In the second half of the report, the ISD explored the online harm endured by the LGBTQIA+ community over the past five years.

Following a recent analysis of US-based violent extremist accounts and groups targeting the community, researchers found that “online hate spiked in response to real-world events and political developments.”

The data also revealed that the trans community is increasingly targeted by violent extremist accounts across various platforms, imageboards and forums.

“Anti-trans hate speech rose from 35 per cent of all anti-LGBTQIA+ speech in October to November to 46 per cent in December to January. There is a notable overlap between groups that direct violence and hate speech against LGBTQIA+ people and groups identified as threats to US national security and the government,” researchers explained.

Elsewhere, the study highlighted GLAAD’s 2025 Social Media Safety Index report, which found a lack of moderation of anti-LGBTQIA+ hate on social media platforms, alongside over-moderation of LGBTQIA+-inclusive accounts and content.

The report also examined the negative impact of AI content moderation systems, revealing that they have been “found to censor queer users who use ‘slurs’ to self-label (e.g. queer, gay, or femboy).”

“AI-driven censorship of LGBTQIA+ content that it labels as ‘sexualised’ or ‘offensive’ reflects offline biases that unfairly label queerness as inherently sexual and inappropriate,” researchers added.

You can read IDS’ full report here.

If you are not prepared for it, fame can be downright deadly. Alanis Morissette knows that better than anyone. Thirty years ago, she released her third studio album, “Jagged Little Pill,” which won five Grammys, including album of the year and best rock album, and went on to sell 33 million copies.

So, Morissette has a complicated relationship with fame. Now, she will be examining that and many other dimensions of her incredible three-decade career in a new Vegas residency at Caesars Palace that begins Wednesday and runs until Nov. 2.

As Morissette explained in a wide-ranging talk with The Times, the Vegas show will be much more than a concert. The show will take on a narrative feel that will showcase her humor, improv, wellness and all the other traits that have defined her over the years.

I love that you paired with Carly Simon on the song “Coming Around Again” because I see such a kinship based on you two over generations. There is so much in common between “You’re So Vain” and “You Oughta Know.” Not the least of which is I am sure you are both beyond over being asked, “Who is the song really about?”

Right, because what people don’t understand, and I can’t speak for Carly, but there’s a difference between revenge and revenge fantasy. I’m all about the revenge fantasy and punching pillows and gyrating and sweating and losing your s— in art. And Lord knows I’m unmeasured in other areas day-to-day, too, so it’s not like I’m some paragon of containment, but yeah, just the revenge thing, there’s a lot of schoolyard stuff going on. That’s all I’ll say for the moment.

Obviously, this is 30 years of “Jagged Little Pill.” I remember seeing Bruce Springsteen in ’88, when he did “Born to Run” acoustic. Every night when he introduced it, he would say, “I was thinking about how much that song was me, and how much I don’t want it to be me.” And I thought that was so interesting because, of course, there are songs you want to be you. So, what songs did you want to be you?

Yeah, there are so many songs that I would write about potential. So, I’d be in a relationship, and I would be writing about what I wanted to the point where whomever I may have been dating at the time, if I shared the song with them, sometimes they would say, “Who’s this about? This can’t possibly be about me.” I’m like, “Well, you know what? You’re onto something there. This is about what I wish we could be.” I think about also a song, because I’m working on the Vegas show, so we’re integrating so much. And I think the song “Not the Doctor” is probably one of the ones that I realized the naivety of having written, like, your issues just get away from me. Having been married now for 15 years, I realized that your partner’s challenges, you take each other on — all of it. So, there’s a little bit of knowledge now that makes “Not the Doctor” funny to sing.

And then “Incomplete” is a song that is a manifestation, as you just described, that I would be good. It’s like a prayer manifestation. There’s a song, “Knees of My Bees,” that I wrote about what I wished. In praise of the vulnerable man, it was what I wished. So yes, there’s some composites being made where I take seven people whom I had a similar pattern repeat, and I just lop them all into one song as one person and unify the communication; there’s no holds barred.

Has there been talk about extending the show? It does sound like you are putting a crazy amount of work into a show that right now lasts little more than a week.

For a long time — and a lot of journalists have said, “Yeah, right,” when I say this — but my energy doesn’t go into outcome. Whether the show is seen three times or 300,000 times, that’s not up to me in this moment. I’m creating stories and sharing parts of myself that I have hidden for the ’90s imperative of staying in your lane or it’s career suicide. So, I’m still unlearning that, which is the reductiveness of the ’90s, where you have to stay one thing. Then, well, what is one supposed to do if they have multiple talents or multiple intelligences dying to be expressed? We’re going to contain that so that we can keep the ’90s credo going. So, over the years, it’s just been, can I bring these other aspects of self into the whole expression of me through academia, through movement, through channeling, through live shows, through interviews right now? There are so many ways to express, and the ’90s really did say, “You do it one or two ways; you step out of that and your career is over.” Thank God that messaging is softened.

How have you seen culture and values change over your career?

It used to be “I want to be a millionaire,” and now everyone wants to be a billionaire. It used to be “I want to look 21 forever,” now it’s “I want to look 14 forever.” And then it used to be “I want to have fame as a means to an end for activism.” Now it’s just “I want fame as an end,” so it’s an interesting value system snapshot right now. And so many of us are flying in the face of it, so I’m not really worried about that. But the value system has gotten smaller almost, as though fame in and of itself is going to correct our attachment wounds. It doesn’t work, and I’m constantly raising my hand going, I thought fame would result in this profound sense of community that I’d be amongst my people and we’d be petting each other’s heads by the fire. That was not the case.

I think for anyone who comes out the other side of fame, there has to be a tremendous sense of gratitude that you survive it.

That’s a big piece of this Vegas show without me nailing it on the head or belaboring the point. It’s like, “How are some of us still here?”

How do you express that in the show? And it is interesting given your passion for wellness and mental health, it is in Vegas. Which has never been known for either.

Yeah, Vegas has been known for addiction and gambling, acting out, sexual acting out. What is Vegas known for? “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” It’s been known for that, but I believe that there’s a whole seismic shift going on. I have never underestimated people who come to my shows. Even in workshops, people are like, “Alanis, it’s too much.” And my thought is, “No, it’s not.” People can close their eyes, they can walk out, they can shut the radio off, they can take a break in the cafeteria. Part of why I love that it’s Vegas is that there’s this ceilinglessness in terms of no holds barred again, like I want to wear a boa. You want to do a backflip. Apparently, we’re doing a backflip. What has happened over the years is that again, it was this one-lane push, stay in your lane. And while this was all happening, there were all these other archetypal imperatives getting at me, like what about dancing? What about comedy? What about article writing? What about keynote speaking? What about workshop leading? What about channeling? There are all these other forms of expression that I live for. So, in some ways, I was cultivating them maybe privately. That’s just who I am. And I integrated it into every lyric.

Sinéad [O’Connor] said this perfectly, I don’t know word for word what she said, but the essence was you love the art, but you hate the artist. She said something about, “I appreciate that my audience wants everyone to hear more angry emotions from me through my songs, but then I have to be angry. And no one takes that into consideration.” I was like, “Yeah, because we’re used in the best way possible.” Artists are used as a screen upon which people identify themselves or people find who they are by hating and loving and trolling and attacking and it’s all projection, everything’s f— projection. So yeah, I just think people who are in the public eye have an experience inside of a social construct that is so violently unusual. And there’s no empathy afforded to them for that, other than maybe from people like you and me.

“There are all these other forms of expression that I live for,” says Alanis Morissette. “So, in some ways, I was cultivating them maybe privately. That’s just who I am. And I integrated it into every lyric.”

(Shervin Lainez)

How did you learn to deal with it? Unfortunately for Sinéad, she never was able to handle the fact that people were so hateful toward her, even though it had nothing to do with her.

I know, and basically that is the lack of handbook that is egregious, because so many people who were in the public eye are now physically gone. So much of it is their temperament, and I used to do talks at the neurobiology conferences at UCLA, and I would bring up the idea of temperament needing to be taken into consideration, whether it’s around suicidality or anything. Most artists are highly sensitive empaths. That is a version of neurodivergence over excitability, high-achieving, profound subtle awareness and attunement. All of these qualities that make the sweetest artists. And yet that temperament in a world that is doing what you just described Sinéad receiving, which is projecting hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. There’s no handbook on how to go, “Hey, we’re going to do shadow work here. We’re going to talk about rejection. We’re going to talk about if anyone’s saying anything that brings something up for you, bring it into therapy. Look at that part. Look at what they’re saying.” Also, always from me, look at the opposite. If you’re being invited to look at the part of you that is an a—. Always also look at the part of you that is deeply, deeply kind. For me, that’s the wholeness journey.

Being older, what have you learned about how to deal with all this?

I really do believe, Steve, that I could write a f— handbook now. I feel like if you and I got together, I could write the handbook, and we just hand it out to all the new celebs.

Do you now feel a responsibility to be able to pass your wisdom on to the new generation like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo?

I feel great passion about it. I happen to be someone who is hilariously conscientious and intensely empathic. I’m always blown away by them, and then I see people like Olivia and I just think, “Oh, everything’s going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay if Olivia exists; we’re good.” [laughs]

What happened to your book?

What’s interesting is I did two years worth of narrative storytelling that we recorded. Initially it was for a memoir, or some version of what was being asked for was a memoir. That’s kind of a hard “no” for me because we’re using all the pieces that feel relevant to this particular story. The reason I didn’t want to do the memoir is ’cause there’s no way to articulate a life. There’s way to articulate snapshots. There’s a way to articulate chapters, maybe. But there’s no way to articulate, like, this is my sentimental life story. It’s not possible. So that’s why songs are so great. It’s like four minutes of a moment. Let’s just keep writing these moments and capturing these moments and that’s what Vegas is for me: a moment.

One of the things I’ve talked about with artists that they love so much about Vegas residency is you get to mix it up night to night. But it sounds like you’re going to have a show, so are you going to be incorporating different stuff or is it going to be more of a narrative story?

Both. For me as an actor, I’ve always enjoyed improv. I love it when there’s a general sense of structure for something, but then go off within it. This is the way I’ve always been, both sides of the brain. I want some structure and predictability and some version of a set list, which we already have. But then within some of the interstitial stuff and the scenes and the comedy and the physicality and the movement, yeah, it’s a movable feast. We’ll see what happens. I am completely out of my wheelhouse publicly, not privately, because I was in improv teams since I was 14. And I think comedy is one of the best forms of activism art, I really do, maybe even above music. So, we’re integrating all these forms of art. And I’m not thinking about any outcome. It’s really amazing to write a record, write a song, write an email, frankly, with no agenda. The agenda is just “let’s express ourselves.” And that’s plenty.

Do you feel like you’re having more fun now at this point in your career than any other point?

I have the most fun with collaborating. So, I can’t say this is any more fun, but I can say that there’s more people. So, in the past, it’s been me alone writing or me and my bestie writing or me and Glen [Ballard] writing. So, in some ways it was insulated, isolated and with the musical and with Vegas, let’s multiply those collaborators by at least five. What I’ve said a few times, and I still stand by it, is that for me, the happiest place is in this communal “can’t swing a dirty sock without hitting a master” kind of environment, and it is truly six plus six is a thousand for us.

Do you feel like, as you’re getting older, people are embracing you more?

Yeah, I make more sense. There was a period of time where I didn’t make any sense and perhaps there wasn’t that much resonance. And then 25, 30 years later, I feel like I’m starting to make sense to the world in a way that I didn’t expect to happen. I just always thought, “Oh, I’ll be on that smallest part of the bell-shaped curve forever and I’ll probably be kind of lonely there. And that’s just what it is in this lifetime.” But here I am 30 years later and I’m starting to get a sense that what I’ve been talking about this whole time is resonant for people. And I can’t tell you how healing that is for me.

Police in the United Kingdom are investigating a suspected arson attack on a mosque in southern England as a “hate crime” as a spate of violent crime against religious sites is reported.

Officers were called to the site of an arson attack on Phyllis Avenue in Peacehaven, East Sussex, just before 10pm (22:00 GMT) on Saturday, local police said.

The fire damaged the front entrance of the mosque and a car, they said, adding that no one was injured. Images and footage shared online show a burned-out car at the entrance of the mosque.

Sussex Police also shared images of two masked men dressed in dark clothing, and appealed for help from the public to identify them.

According to a report on CNN, which quoted a volunteer mosque manager, two people were inside the building when two people in balaclavas tried to force the mosque door open and poured petrol onto the steps, setting the building alight.

A spokesperson for the mosque said in a statement that the community was “deeply saddened” by the “shocking” attack. “While the incident has caused damage to our building and vehicles, we are profoundly grateful that no-one was injured.”

“This hateful act does not represent our community or our town. Peacehaven has always been a place of kindness, respect, and mutual support, and we will continue to embody those values,” the statement continued.

“We ask everyone to reject division and respond to hate with unity and compassion,” it added.

Detective Superintendent Karrie Bohanna said the attack had caused concerns within the Muslim community. “There is already an increased police presence at the scene, and there are also additional patrols taking place to provide reassurance at other places of worship across the county,” Bohanna said.

“Sussex Police takes a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime, and there is no place for hate across the county.”

Possible act of ‘terrorism’

Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Green Party, said the police must establish the motives of the attack and whether it constitutes “an act of terrorism”.

“People were inside the mosque when it was firebombed and people in this community will be feeling frightened and targeted for their faith,” Ali said.

Chris Ward, the Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, said he was “appalled” by the “disgusting” attack.

“That there were no injuries is purely by chance,” he said. “This violence and hatred has no place in our peaceful, tolerant local community. We will root it out, and we stand in solidarity with all affected.”

The attack comes after a ramming and stabbing at a synagogue in northern Manchester on Thursday. It killed two people and seriously injured three.

The Muslim Council of Britain condemned Saturday’s attack, saying it was “profoundly shocked and alarmed by the Islamophobic arson attack” and urged authorities to “provide robust protection for all places of worship”.

The mosque attack “follows a disturbing pattern of violence and intimidation”, it added. “Just last week, an Imam was stabbed in Hounslow, while mosques across the country have faced bomb threats and coordinated hate campaigns,” the council added in its statement.

Separately, the East London Mosque said on X that “our communities must remain united – Muslims, Jews, Christians, people of all faiths and none – in standing together against extremism, intolerance and violence.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews also condemned the mosque attack, saying on X that “every faith community has the right to worship free from fear. Our country is better than this.”

The attacks on religious sites come as the atmosphere in the UK remains tense after months of protests against asylum seekers and a social media campaign called #OperationRaisetheColours.

In recent weeks, those heeding the call have pinned the flag of England bearing St George’s Cross and Union Jacks to motorway bridges, lampposts, roundabouts and some shops across the UK. Red crosses have been spray-painted on the white stripes of zebra crossings.

While some supporters frame the project as patriotic, it has been tied to racist incidents including the appearance of racist graffiti.

COPS have launched a hate crime investigation after reports of a suspected arson attack at a mosque.

CCTV footage shows two men with face coverings pull up to the Peacehaven Community Mosque, in East Sussex, on Saturday night.

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The video appears to reveal one yob, wearing a black jacket, walking up the front steps holding a green container.

He appears to douse the entrance steps with an accelerant before they go up in flames.

Within seconds the car has also turned into a fire ball.

A man who was inside the mosque runs out in terror, seeking safety.

It is not known how many people were in the building when the inferno was sparked.

Fire crews were called out to the chaotic scene and a large police presence remains in the area.

Footage from the scene shows a burnt-out vehicle being dampened by firemen.

A member of the Mosque told The Sun Online: “There was an attack on the mosque, a few individuals came with balaclavas on and blew up a vehicle outside the mosque and set the front a light.”

“It was a targeted attack,” he claimed.

“There’s a large police presence here now.”

Sussex Police Detective Superintendent Karrie Bohanna said: “This is a fast-moving investigation, and we are urging anyone with relevant information to report it to us.

“This includes anyone with CCTV, ring doorbell, dashcam, and mobile phone footage in the area at the time.

“We understand the concerns this has caused within the community, and the impact that will be felt by the Muslim community as a result.

“There is already an increased police presence at the scene and there are also additional patrols taking place to provide reassurance at other places of worship across the county.

“Sussex Police takes a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime and there is no place for hate across the county.

“If you have concerns for your safety or experience any hate or criminal behaviour, please speak to an officer or contact us online or by calling 101. Always dial 999 in an emergency.”

Anyone with information about the arson can report it to Sussex Police online or on 101, quoting Operation Spey.

Alternatively contact CrimeStoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111.

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More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

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PRO-PALESTINE marches have gone ahead today with protesters gathering in London and Manchester.

The demonstrations are taking place despite calls from Sir Keir Starmer and police to cancel the events following the terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday.

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Dozens of police officers have been seen lined up next to Nelson’s Column in central London ahead of the arrival of hundreds of protesters supporting banned group Palestine Action.

Just after 1pm, protesters from the group Defend our Juries arrived in Trafalgar Square began clapping before sitting down.

They chanted “free, free Palestine” and some began writing “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, while others held pre-written signs.

A woman in blue scrubs stood in the crowds with a sign reading “nurse against genocide”.

Several campaigners from the Stop the War coalition are already in Trafalgar Square, holding placards and Palestine flags.

The Metropolitan Police said it had arrested six people over the banner draped on Westminster Bridge in support of banned group Palestine Action.

The force said: “Officers were quickly on scene, the banner had been removed and the six people involved have been arrested for supporting a proscribed organisation.”

Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian supporters grew to around 100 before speeches began outside Manchester Cathedral.

Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley had asked for protests to be postponed due to the drain on resources while extra officers are stationed at synagogues.

He also warned the rallies “will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity” in the wake of the attack.

It comes after pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets just hours after Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were murdered by Jihad Al-Shamie.

The pair were brutally killed by the 35-year-old jihadist during Yom Kippur –  the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Speaking at yesterday’s Manchester synagogue vigil, locals turned on ministers, yelling “you have blood on your hands”.

Furious mourners slammed the Government for not doing enough to stop the “hate marches”, which are still set to go ahead.

As one way to keep tabs on President Trump’s state of mind, I’m on his email fundraising lists. Lately his 79-year-old mind has seemed to be on his mortality.

“I want to try and get to heaven” has been the subject line on roughly a half-dozen Trump emails since mid-August. Oddly, one arrived earlier this month on the same day that the commander in chief separately posted on social media a meme of himself as “Apocalypse Now” character Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, satisfyingly surveying the hellish conflagration that his helicopters had wreaked, not on Vietnam but on Chicago. “Chipocalypse” was Trump’s warning to the next U.S. city that he might militarize.

Mixed messages, to be sure.

The president hasn’t limited his celestial contemplations to online outlets. “I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,” he told the hosts of “Fox & Friends” in August, by way of explaining his (failed) effort to bring peace to Ukraine. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well.”

Well, Mr. President, here’s some advice: I don’t think you’ll get to heaven by wishing that many of your fellow citizens go to hell.

The disconnect between Trump’s dreams of eternal reward and his earthly avenging — against Democrat-run cities, political rivals, late-show hosts and other celebrity critics, universities, law firms, cultural institutions, TV networks and newspapers, liberal groups and donors, government employees, insufficiently loyal allies and even harmless protesters at a Washington restaurant — was rarely so evident as it was at the Christian revival that was Sunday’s memorial for the slain MAGA activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Mere minutes after Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow and successor as head of the conservative group Turning Point USA, had tearfully forgiven her husband’s accused killer, the president explicitly contradicted her with a message of hate toward his own enemies, and his continued determination to exact revenge.

Erika Kirk spoke of “Charlie’s mission” of engaging his critics and working “to save young men just like the one who took his life.” She recalled the crucified Christ absolving his executioners on Calvary, then emotionally added: “That young man. I forgive him.”

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did and what Charlie would do,” she said to applause. “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer, we know from the Gospel, is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

Then it was Trump’s turn.

Just one minute in, he called the 22-year-old suspect “a radicalized cold-blooded monster.” And throughout, despite investigators’ belief that the man acted alone, Trump reiterated for the umpteenth time since Kirk’s death that “radical left lunatics” — his phrase for Democrats — actually were responsible and that the Justice Department would round up those complicit for retribution.

Trump acknowledged that Charlie Kirk probably wouldn’t agree with his approach: “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them.” Then Teleprompter Trump went off script, reverting to real Trump and ad-libbing: “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them.” He spat the word “hate” with venom. And he got applause, just as Erika Kirk had for a very different message.

Jesus counseled “turn the other cheek” to rebuke those who harm us. Trump boasts that he always punches back. “If someone screws you, screw them back 10 times harder,” he once said. Love your enemies, as Christ commanded in his Sermon on the Mount? Nah. You heard Trump in Arizona: “I hate my opponent.”

Trump might have some explaining to do when he seeks admittance at the pearly gates.

The Bible’s words aside, a president is supposed to be the comforter in chief after a tragedy and a uniter when divisions rend the American fabric. Think of President Clinton, whose oratory bridged partisan fissures after antigovernment domestic terrorists bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people, and of President George W. Bush, who visited a mosque in Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in a healing gesture intended to blunt rising anti-Muslim reactions. (Later, of course, Bush would cleave the nation by invading Iraq based on a lie about its complicity.)

Trump, by contrast, is the inciter in chief. Just hours after Kirk’s death on Sept. 10, and before a suspect was in custody, he addressed the nation, blaming “radical left political violence.” He has repeated that indictment nearly every day since, though the FBI has reported for years — including during his first term — that domestic right-wing violence is the greater threat. “We have to beat the hell out of them,” Trump told reporters. When even one of his friends on “Fox & Friends” noted radicals are on the right as well, Trump replied: “I couldn’t care less. … The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible.”

All of this vituperation and vengeance suggests a big “what if”: What if Trump were more like Charlie Kirk? To ask is not to gloss over Kirk’s controversial utterances against Black Americans, gay and transgender Americans and others, but he did respectfully deal with those who disagreed with him — as he was doing when he was shot.

What if Trump, since 2016, had sincerely tried to broaden his political reach, as presidential nominees and presidents of each party historically did, to embrace his opponents and to compromise with them? What if he governed for all Americans and not just his MAGA voters? He might well have enacted bipartisan laws of the sort that Trump 1.0 promised on immigration, gun safety, infrastructure and more. In general we’d all be better off, less polarized.

And with a more magnanimous approach like that, Trump just might have a better chance at getting into heaven.

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A once tranquil fishing village famed for featuring in the TV series Doc Martin is now said to be inundated with visitors

Port Isaac, the picturesque Cornish village known for its role in the TV series Doc Martin and as the birthplace of sea-shanty band Fisherman’s Friends, is said to struggling under the weight of its own popularity.

The once peaceful fishing village, with its charming whitewashed cottages overlooking a harbour, is now teeming with tourists during the summer months. However, it has been reported that the lower part of Port Isaac has seen a significant drop in its population, with only about 30 residents remaining during the spring and autumn shoulder seasons.

Despite the influx of visitors drawn by its association with Doc Martin, Port Isaac has long been a favourite location for TV and film makers. The village served as the backdrop for the 2000 comedy thriller Saving Grace, as well as the original BBC Poldark series from the 1970s.

Local fisherman, Tom Brown, told the Telegraph that while visitor numbers have increased, they are spending less than previous tourists. He revealed that older locals “hate it” and avoid the bottom of Port Isaac, claiming “it’s ruined”.

However, Mr Brown believes that while the village has “definitely changed”, it isn’t ruined.

The surge in second-home ownership has reportedly priced local families out of the market. According to Rightmove, house prices in the village averaged £425,140 over the last year, reports the Express.

The online property website also noted that most properties sold in Port Isaac over the past year were detached houses, fetching an average price of £490,000.

Terraced houses were sold for an average price of £406,250, while flats went for £333,200. The Halifax House Price Index reported a UK-wide average of £299,331 in August.

Travel and Tour World has reported that a “steep” rise in property prices is driving locals away from Port Isaac, with those who stay facing an “overwhelming” cost of living.

Local businesses have also felt the impact of the surge in visitors over the summer, struggling to meet the demand from the influx of tourists and dealing with challenges during quieter periods.

Cornwall Council’s councillor responsible for homes, Olly Munk, stated that housing in the county is in a state of crisis, with more than 24,000 people on the local authority’s waiting list.

In 2024, the council added 775 “affordable” homes to the county’s total, and there are 600 sites approved for housing. Under a Government scheme, the county is required to build over 4,000 houses annually.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Jarvis McKenzie locked eyes with the man in the car, he couldn’t understand the hate he saw. When the man picked up a rifle, fired over his head and yelled “you better get running, boy!” as he scrambled behind a brick wall, McKenzie knew it was because he is Black.

McKenzie told his story a month after the shooting because South Carolina is one of two states along with Wyoming that don’t have their own hate crime laws.

About two dozen local governments in South Carolina have passed their own hate crime ordinances as the latest attempt to put pressure on the South Carolina Senate to take a vote on a bill proposing stiffer penalties for crimes driven by hatred of the victims because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender or ethnicity.

A decade of pressure from businesses, the survivors of a racist Charleston church massacre that left nine dead, and a few of their own Republicans hasn’t been enough to sway senators.

Local governments pass hate crime laws but with very light penalties

Richland County, where McKenzie lives, has a hate crime ordinance and the white man seen on security camera footage grabbing the rifle and firing through his open car window before driving into his neighborhood on July 24 is the first to face the charge.

But local laws are restricted to misdemeanors with sentences capped at a month in jail. The state hate crimes proposal backed by business leaders could add years on to convictions for assault and other violent crimes.

McKenzie sat in the same spot at the edge of his neighborhood for a year at 5:30 a.m. waiting for his supervisor to pick him up for work. For him and his family, every trip outside now is met with uneasiness if not fear.

“It’s heartbreaking to know that I get up every morning. I stand there not knowing if he had seen me before,” McKenzie said.

Hate crime law efforts have stalled since 2015 racist Charleston church massacre

The lack of a statewide hate crime law rapidly became a sore spot in South Carolina after the 2015 shooting deaths of nine Black worshippers at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. After a summer of racial strife in 2020, business leaders made it a priority and the South Carolina House passed its version in 2021.

But in 2021 and again in the next session in 2023, the proposal stalled in the South Carolina Senate without a vote. Supporters say Republican Senate leadership knows it will pass as more moderate members of their own party support it but they keep it buried on the calendar with procedural moves.

The opposition is done mostly in silence and the bill gets only mentioned in passing as the Senate takes up other items, like in May 2023 when a debate on guidelines for history curriculum on subjects like slavery and segregation briefly had a longtime Democratic lawmaker ask Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey why hate crimes couldn’t get a vote.

“The problem right now is there is a number of people who think that not only is it feel good legislation, but it is bad legislation. It is bad policy not because people support hate but because it furthers division,” Massey responded on the Senate floor.

Supporters say federal hate crime laws aren’t enough

Opponents of a state hate crimes law point out there is a federal hate crimes law and the Charleston church shooter is on federal death row because of it.

But federal officials can’t prosecute cases involving juveniles, they have limited time and resources compared to the state and those decisions get made in Washington, D.C., instead of locally, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott who pushed for the hate crime ordinance in his county.

“It’s common sense. We’re making something very simple complicated, and it’s not complicated. If you commit a crime against somebody just because of the hate for them, because of who they are, the religion, etcetera, we know what that is,” Lott said.

Democrats in the Senate were especially frustrated in this year’s session because while senators debated harsher sentences for attacking health care workers or police dogs, hate crimes again got nowhere.

Supporters of a state hate-crime law say South Carolina’s resistance to enact one emboldens white supremacists.

“The subliminal message that says if you’re racist and you want to commit a crime and target somebody for their race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or whatever it is you can do it here,” said McKenzie’s attorney, Tyler Bailey.

Governor says South Carolina laws provide punishment without new hate crime bill

Republican Gov. Henry McMaster understands why local governments are passing their own hate crime laws, but he said South Carolina’s laws against assaults and other violent crimes have harsh enough sentences that judges can give maximum punishments if they think the main motivation of a crime is hate.

“There’s no such thing as a love crime. There is always an element of hatred or disrespect or something like that,” said the former prosecutor who added he fears the danger that happens when investigators try to enter someone’s mind or police their speech.

But some crimes scream to give people more support in our society, Lott said.

“I think it’s very important that we protect everybody. My race, your race, everybody’s race, your religion, there needs to be some protection for that. That’s what our Constitution gives us,” the sheriff said.

And while the man charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for shooting at McKenzie faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, the man who was just waiting to go to work feels like the state where he lives doesn’t care about the terror he felt just because of his race.

“I feel like somebody is watching me. I feel like I’m being followed,” McKenzie said. “It spooked me.”

Collins writes for the Associated Press.