John Bacon

USA TODAY

A burst of hate incidents and crimes reported in the days following Donald Trump's election in November has eased, but hate activity remains above pre-election levels, the Southern Poverty Law Center says.

Heidi Beirich, head of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, called on Trump to take a strong stand against hate speech and crime.

"He was interviewed on Sixty Minutes and he said 'stop it' but never took a really strong stand," Beirich told USA TODAY on Thursday. "Going forward, the question is how does Trump conduct himself?"

Beirich said that the 9/11 terror attacks prompted an outbreak of assaults targeting Muslims.

"The dynamic was altered when (then-president) George Bush went to a mosque," Beirich said. "The number of incidents ground almost to a halt."

Chicago Facebook Live beating suspects charged with hate crimes

Racist graffiti greets Trump win across USA

Trump's media representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Hate attacks don't have to be based solely on race or religion. This week in Chicago, black men and women involved in a violent attack broadcast on Facebook Live made racist statements — and disparaged Trump — during an assault on a white teen. Police believe the victim was targeted because he has “special needs,” not because of race.

Beirich compared the increase in hate activity in the U.S. to activity in the United Kingdom since "Brexit," the stunning vote to removed Britain from the European Union. One of the issues driving Brexit supporters was immigration of Eastern Europeans and Middle East Muslims.

"The hate crimes have slowed down since the vote but are ongoing," she said. "I think that is analogous to our situation."

Some states are fighting back. Days after the election, Massachusetts created a hotline for victims of "bias-motivated threats, harassment or violence." Emily Snyder, spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office, said the hotline has drawn hundreds of calls that are being pursued by a team of investigators and attorneys.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo set up a similar hotline, ordered a new, multi-agency investigation team and asked the state Education Department to set up programs in schools to combat intolerance and protect students.

The center published a report last month on bias-related harassment and intimidation around the country following the election, from Nov. 9 to Dec. 12. The activity is hard to quantify and to verify, but the center tapped news articles, social media and direct submissions and "made every effort to verify each report."

"While the total number has surpassed the 1,000 mark, reports have slowed down significantly compared to the days immediately following the election," the report says. But incidents continue to roll in "as heartbreaking and infuriating as before."

One anecdote, from Florida, came from a witness who said she saw a man make an obscene gesture at two women wearing hijabs in a public park. The women left, and the man made disparaging remarks about Muslims and said "President Trump has his work cut out for him."

The report includes more than a dozen incidents the center determined were fake or never happened.

"There were some hoaxes; there always are," Beirich said. "What you can't do is highlight the hoaxes to try and undermine the problem instead of solving it."