Hate group numbers in US near record high
Hate groups are on the rise in the United States, a development credited to the energising effect of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), which tracks hate groups across the country, said their number reached ‘‘near historic highs’’ last year with 917 active groups, 100 fewer than the all-time high of 1018 in 2011.
The number of groups had fallen to 784 in 2014. The SPLC said the numbers ‘‘undoubtedly understate the real level of organised hatred in America’’ as they failed to take into account those operating solely in cyberspace.
Membership of individual groups is also on the rise. The Ku Klux Klan said last year that it was in the midst of ‘‘a surge in membership across the Deep South’’. The most dramatic increase was in the number of specifically anti- Muslim groups, up from 34 in 2015 to 101 last year. The SPLC tied the rise to Trump’s run for office, noting a surge in hate crimes after his win, with 1094 incidents in 34 days.
Several new white nationalist groups to emerge have tied themselves specifically to Trump, including Identity Evropa and Vanguard America. Both took part in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. James Fields, who was arrested for driving a car into a crowd of counter-protestors, killing one, was pictured carrying a shield with the Vanguard America logo.
Trump’s candidacy won the backing of many white nationalist groups, including the KKK.
In May, homeland security and FBI chiefs warned of the growing threat from white supremacist groups. They ‘‘were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2000 to 2016, more than any other domestic extremist movement’’.
– The Times