BOSTON: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in a report on Monday revealed a study stating that hate crimes against United States Muslims rose by 15 percent in 2017 for the second time. CAIR, an advocacy group, recorded about 300 US hate crimes targeting Muslims in 2017. The hate crime incidents vary from the June beating of a Muslim in the Bronx area of New York City to burning a Muslim family’s restaurant in Kansas. Previously the reported or recorded hate crimes totaled to be 260 in 2016, claims CAIR report. The report stated that the increase in such crimes could have been caused by President Trump’s policy of imposing restrictions on immigration from Muslim majority countries. CAIR Attorney Gadier Abbas remarked that such practices of the Muslim community being the punching bag for the President had never been practiced in United States (US). Upon requesting comments from the White house, a spokesperson Kelly Love assured that the Trump Administration abhors all forms of lawlessness including hate crimes. She added that the US administration stood for rule of law and President Trump had condemned violence, racism and hate groups. President Trump during his presidential campaign had promised to ban Muslims from residing in US. However, after resuming office a revised version of the order was passed which took effect last year. As per CAIR, 300 hate crimes were a slice of the 2599 incidents logged as anti-Muslim prejudice in 2017. The advocacy group’s lawyers investigated 5,650 reported anti-Muslim incidents and came to a conclusion that less than half qualified to be authentic. The group’s study revealed that the hate crimes recorded by FBI were counted more than the group’s. FBI had recorded 307 anti-Islamic hate crimes in 2016. The previous year’s report suggested a 44 percent increase in hate crimes in 2016 compared to 2015.