Antisemitic propaganda in Conn. up 115 percent last year, ADL says

Connecticut had 207 incidents involving white supremacist propaganda last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League, representing a 115 percent increase over the previous year.

That puts Connecticut at ninth in the nation in terms of the number of incidents involving white supremacist propaganda, according to the ADL.

Incidents included white supremacist stickers and flyers being distributed and found at state parks, flyers with racist, homophobic and antisemitic messages found in residents’ yards, and one group placing flyers on car windows in Waterbury live on the internet.

The groups most responsible for the propaganda in Connecticut were Patriot Front, responsible for 185 incidents, and the National Socialist Club (NSC), which was responsible for 16 incidents, the ADL said in a release.

“Incidents of white supremacist propaganda distribution in Connecticut are at a historic high,” ADL Connecticut Regional Director Stacey Sobel said in a release. “Everyone must come together to reject hate and extremism and work towards creating a better community that does not exclude, marginalize, or target any person.”

Nationwide, only Hawaii was free from white supremacist propaganda. The total number of incidents across the nation more than doubled in 2022 year over year, from 352 to 852.

Texas, where the Patriot Front is based, saw the most incidents of white supremacist propaganda, followed by Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Utah, Florida, Connecticut and Georgia.

According to the ADL’s latest annual tally of white supremacist propaganda, Patriot Front was the most active group, responsible for 93 percent of the total incidents counted, along with two other groups, White Lives Matter and the Goyim Defense

League, which was responsible for livestreaming distribution of flyers in Waterbury.

The ADL, which tracks antisemitic incidents nationwide and releases an annual tally, said the Goyim Defense League’s growth over the past year was largely responsible for the increase in propaganda incidents.