Heather Heyer's not on this FBI list. How hate crimes become invisible

It's hard to forget the searing images of a neo-Nazi driving his car into counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, two years ago today. But if you look at the federal hate crimes report, it's like it never happened at all.

Heather Heyer's murder became a symbol of the hate in America that only seems to be spreading.

From the massacre in El Paso, Texas, by an apparent white supremacist hellbent on killing Mexicans just days ago, to the mass murder of Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue last year. Swastikas sprayed on homes and schools. People abused for the color of their skin or the language they speak. Americans told to "go back to your country." These symbols of everyday hate seem to be a regular occurrence.

But there can only be guesses at how bad things really are and if they are getting worse.

That's because the FBI's national statistics on hate crimes and annual report are deeply flawed. They are based on voluntary reporting from local agencies with differing definitions of hate crimes and can be riddled with errors.

Mississippi reported just one hate crime for the entirety of 2017 among its 3 million residents across its 82 counties, many with a troubled racial history. Not necessarily because nothing else happened, but because nothing more was reported.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/heather-heyers-not-on-this-fbi-list-how-hate-crimes-become-invisible/ar-AAFHh7A?li=BBnb7Kz