HITTING BACK

George Soros Pledges $10 Million to Fight Hate Crimes

Calls Trump “directly responsible.”

Investment banker George Soros has committed to donate $10 million to combat a reported rise in U.S. hate crimes following the election of incoming president Donald Trump. Soros, a Holocaust survivor, told reporters he was “deeply troubled” by the racist graffiti and Nazi swastikas that have popped up on buildings and cars since the election. “We must do something to push back against what’s happening here,” Soros said, adding he fears the “dark forces that have been awakened” since the election. Soros clarified that his donation is not a political statement against Trump, but he does believe the president-elect’s words are “directly responsible” for the alarming incidents. Soros said his nonprofit group, the Open Society Foundation, will give grants of as much as $150,000 to community and civil-rights groups developing plans to combat hate crimes.