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By Thomas Phippen
Self-defense instructors in New York City are experiencing a big Trump bump of their own, the Wall Street Journal reports.
One self-defense training organization has seen a 400 percent increase in sign-ups compared to last year. The Krav Maga Institute in New York City, which teaches Israeli martial arts, has a six-month waiting list for their classes, WSJ reports.
Most of the requests for self-defense and martial arts training come from Muslims, immigrant communities, LGBT groups and women, Tracy Hobson of the Center for Anti-violence Education told WSJ. Some communities are seeking defense skills because they do not feel comfortable calling the police, Hobson said.
“I understand the fear that something can escalate if you decide to intervene, but I think calling the police can also escalate things,” Hobson told WSJ. Hobson did not immediately return The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
New York Mayor Bill De Blasio was quick to blame President Donald Trump for a rise in reported hate crimes in 2016. New York police posted a 35 percent increase in reported hate crimes in 2016 from 2015, even though crime rates declined in the same period.
Reports of anti-Semitic hate crimes have increased the most, though a few of those reports were later proven be false. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have both condemned anti-Semitic crimes and vandalism. (RELATED: Pence Speaks At Vandalized Jewish Cemetery)
“You can’t have a candidate for president single out groups of Americans, negatively, and not have some ramifications for that,” de Blasio said in December. “It’s obviously connected to the election.”
The New York Police Department still insists that calling the authorities is the best option for anyone under attack. “If you feel you’re the victim of a crime, the police are the proper people to call,” NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis told WSJ.
Still, people want to be able to defend themselves.
“Right now we live in crazy times,” one New York woman who recently enrolled in a self-defense class told WSJ. “I want to defend people.”
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