ADL says white supremacist propaganda hits all-time high
White supremacist propaganda surged to an all-time high across the U.S. last year, as Massachusetts incidents rose by 87%, the AntiDefamation League reported on Wednesday.
There were a total of 5,125 cases of racist, anti-Semitic and other hateful messages reported by the ADL in 2020 — the highest level of incidents reported since the ADL began tracking this data. The total was nearly double the 2,724 cases reported in 2019.
The new report revealed a national average of 14 incidents per day. This included a 68% increase in propaganda targeting Jews or Jewish institutions.
Massachusetts was among the states with the highest levels of white supremacist propaganda activity. The Bay State recorded 276 incidents of white supremacist propaganda in 2020, compared to 147 in 2019 and 35 in 2018.
“Across the country and in the New England region, we’ve seen vile racist and antisemitic propaganda appear, targeting minority groups and directing the unsuspecting public to these groups’ websites,” Robert Trestan, ADL New England regional director, said in a statement.
There were 110 communities in Massachusetts that experienced an incident of white supremacist propaganda in 2020, compared to 68 communities in 2019.
“110 communities in Massachusetts experienced at least one white supremacist incident last year — a staggering figure that demonstrates the extent to which these groups are going to normalize and popularize their hateful ideologies,” Trestan said. “Hate propaganda often inspires and incites people to act, creating the potential for increased hate crimes.”
Massachusetts ranked sixth in the country for hate propaganda in 2020.
“The data clearly shows that white supremacists were emboldened to spread their hateful messaging in 2020 and increase recruiting more than they have in recent years,” Trestan said. “By spreading their message of hate, white supremacists are afforded with anonymity, a perfect cover to continue these activities while avoiding criminal prosecution.”
Patriot Front, a white supremacist hate group that espouses antisemitism and racism, accounted for the majority of white supremacist propaganda distributed in Massachusetts last year with 230 recorded incidents, followed by the Nationalist Social Club, ADL said.
Founded in eastern Massachusetts in December 2019, the Nationalist Social Club — a neo-Nazi group — was responsible for 102 incidents across the country last year.
Throughout the year, small groups of white supremacists protested Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Massachusetts, according to the report. Massachusetts recorded a total of eight white supremacist events in 2020, compared to three in 2019.