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Mass. Attorney General concerned with rise in hate crimes

BOSTON — The attorney general for Massachusetts says she's seen an increase in hate crime incidents since the election.

“There's behavior and commentary that are things of the past that are supposed to be things of the past.  This is not going to be a place where we let prejudice and discrimination enter,” said Maura Healey.

In the weeks after the election, Healey set up a hate crime tipline; she said she has concerns with Donald Trump, but hope he stands up for all Americans.

In the first week of having that tip line, she said her office received 400 calls and since then has ballooned to around 1000.

One call reported an incident in Springfield, where someone wrote the words "Trump" and "Go Home" on the car of a Puerto Rican couple.

Some of the calls have questions and others are people offering to help in the community and schools when it comes race related issues.

Some of the tips are passed on to law enforcement, but Healey’s concern is with certain calls.

“Particularly from young people in schools who've been the victim of anti-Semitic taunts or taunts based on race or religion or the fact that they come from an immigrant family,” she said.

There are plenty of people who say this is Healey setting the foundation for her political future.

“This is about me doing my job as Attorney General. One of those jobs is to enforce laws that are there to protect people,” she said.

Healy did say that as of now, she plans to run for re-election as attorney general in 2018.