It’s a nasty corner of American history (and American life), but minorities do get harassed and some times assaulted by folks who literally have nothing better to do. It’s tragic, but I’m still cautious about these reports about spikes in hate crimes occurring after the election. First of all, the spike in hate crimes is based off of data taken last year, not over the past few weeks. Second, I doubt some of the authenticity of the most egregious acts of hate since President-elect Donald Trump won the election. Why? Well, because you get stories like this (via Jessica Chasmar/Washington Times):

An openly bisexual Chicago student who claimed she received anti-gay, pro-Donald Trump notes and emails after the election is found to have fabricated the entire story, North Park University said. Taylor Volk told a local NBC News affiliate that she found one of the notes taped to her door at her off-campus residence, which read “Back to hell” and “#Trump” along with homophobic slurs. “This is a countrywide epidemic all of a sudden,” she said on Nov. 14. “I just want them to stop.” […] The university investigated the alleged harassment and determined this week that Ms. Volk had fabricated the story.

She lied. Are liberals this desperate to create a narrative in which Donald Trump’s America is some post-apocalyptic wasteland? Apparently so—and it yet again shows the lengths in which they’ll go to achieve that goal, which is casting doubt on future acts of assault that may or may not be racially motivated, or in this case—spurred by sexual orientation. This story is just sad.