HATE GROUP MAP & LISTING INSIDE PUBLISHED BY SPRING 2016 // ISSUE 160 THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER PLUS: ARYAN NATIONS DEFLATES ‘SOVEREIGNS’ IN MONTANA EDITORIAL A Year of Living Dangerously BY MARK POTOK Anyone who read the newspapers last year knows that suicide and drug overdose deaths are way up, less edu- 2015 saw some horrific political violence. A white suprem- cated workers increasingly are finding it difficult to earn acist murdered nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C. a living, and income inequality is at near historic lev- Islamist radicals killed four U.S. Marines in Chattanooga, els. Of course, all that and more is true for most racial Tenn., and 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif. An anti- minorities, but the pressures on whites who have his- abortion extremist shot three people to torically been more privileged is fueling real fury. death at a Planned Parenthood clinic in It was in this milieu that the number of groups on Colorado Springs, Colo. the radical right grew last year, according to the latest But not many understand just how count by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The num- bad it really was. bers of hate and of antigovernment “Patriot” groups Here are some of the lesser-known were both up by about 14% over 2014, for a new total political cases that cropped up: A West of 1,890 groups. While most categories of hate groups Virginia man was arrested for allegedly declined, there were significant increases among Klan plotting to attack a courthouse and mur- groups, which were energized by the battle over the der first responders; a Missourian was Confederate battle flag, and racist black separatist accused of planning to murder police officers; a former groups, which grew largely because of highly publicized Congressional candidate in Tennessee allegedly conspired incidents of police shootings of black men. to mass-murder Muslims; a New York white supremacist In the second half of the year, a new factor came blew his own leg off as he built bombs; and three North into play: a presidential race that grew more ugly by Carolinians were accused in a plot to attack the military. the month, beginning with Donald Trump’s description There’s more. A Pennsylvania man who ran a “White of undocumented Mexican immigrants as rapists and Church” pleaded guilty to manufacturing 20 bombs; a drug dealers and culminating, arguably, with his call for New Yorker allegedly collected heavy weapons to mur- a temporary ban on Muslim immigration. Even as more der Jews and African Americans; three Georgia mili- establishment Republicans held back from most criti- tiamen went to prison for plotting to attack utilities cism, Trump and other candidates increasingly injected and start a war with the government; a West Virginia real hate into the electoral contest. “sovereign citizen” was accused of attempting to over- The pace of radical activity did not slow down as throw the state government; two white supremacists the new year began. On Jan. 2, 2016, two sons of Cliven in Virginia were charged with buying explosives from Bundy — the extremist Nevada rancher whose 2014 undercover agents in order to attack black churches and armed showdown with federal officials ended with the synagogues; and a racist Minnesotan was arrested for government backing down — broke into and occupied shooting five Black Lives Matter protesters. a federal wildlife refuge near Burns, Ore. Ammon and Although the number of deaths attributable to Ryan Bundy, who led some two dozen armed militia- domestic terrorism still was very small compared to, men in the occupation, said they would remain until two say, cancer or traffic accident deaths, such killings cause local ranchers serving time for arson on federal lands far greater social damage because they produce shock were freed and federal lands were handed over to the waves in targeted communities and also tend to split county. Later, one of their number told reporters that the Americans along pre-existing fault lines like race. refuge would “never” be returned to the government. The violence arose in a landscape dominated by At first, these kinds of assertions drew some luke- losses for those on the political far right. Hardliners warm support in the area. But locals quickly tired of were enraged by the Supreme Court’s legalization of the occupiers’ antics and self-absorbed claims. In late same-sex marriage; pressure to accept Syrian refu- January, The Oregonian editorialized against the “delu- gees; President Obama’s executive orders meant to stall sional behavior” of “Ammon Bundy’s gang,” saying it had deportation of many undocumented workers; the attack “mugged democracy.” It went on to cite a Democratic on the Confederate battle flag that resulted from a flag- congressman describing the men as “terrorists.” enthusiast’s mass murder in Charleston; and the demo- It’s time for others to speak up, too. As our coun- graphic browning of the U.S. population. try grows increasingly polarized and angry, politicians, At the same time, numerous studies have shown that pundits, preachers and other leaders should be work- the white working class in America is under increas- ing to bring us together — and to battle the anger and ing pressure. Real wages have been declining for years, hate that surrounds us. ▲ SPRING 2016 // ISSUE 160 HATE GROUP MAP // HATE GROUP LISTING // ‘PATRIOT’ GROUP LISTING // STARTING ON PAGE 43 ON THE COVER 35 The Year in Hate & Extremism The year 2015 was marked by record levels of violence from domestic American extremists, including jihadists, white supremacists, antigovernment “Patriots” and others. Accompanying what has been described as the worst such violence since 1995 has been a growth in hate groups and so-called Patriot, or militia, groups, both of which expanded their numbers by almost 15% after a period of decreases. 14 Fear and Loathing 22 Aryan Deflations 28 Backlash Sixteen years after a Southern Poverty A year that began with bloody Islamist in Montana Law Center lawsuit crippled the Aryan attacks on Paris’ Charlie Hebdo maga- The strangers showed up in St. Marie, Nations and 12 years after the death zine and ended with jihadist massacres Mont., three years ago, and their weird, of its founder, what was once one of in France and San Bernardino, Calif., has Constitution-quoting signs began to pop America’s most infamous neo-Nazi sparked a major wave of violence and up soon after. Today, the few remaining groups has all but faded into history. Its hatred directed at American Muslims. residents of this abandoned Air Force last would-be leader has closed up shop, And the fact that major presidential base worry that the “sovereign citizens” while another wannabe führer is now candidates are shrilly attacking Muslims who bought hundreds of empty homes in prison. hasn’t helped. COVER ART BY ALEX WILLIAMSON BY ART COVER are building a community for radicals. Intelligence Report INTELLIGENCE REPORT EDITOR Mark Potok INTELLIGENCE PROJECT DIRECTOR Heidi Beirich SENIOR WRITER Don Terry ONLINE EDITOR/SENIOR WRITER Ryan Lenz DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH Evelyn Schlatter 18 ‘Culture Jamming’ 25 Seeing Red Racist leaders are increasingly Anti-Indian groups have DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF INVESTIGATIONS Laurie Wood sending out disinformation, long portrayed themselves as INFORMATION MANAGER including fraudulent eyewit- simply seeking equal rights. Michelle Bramblett ness reports and fake news But now they’re adopting INTELLIGENCE ANALYST stories, to spread their ideas a classic conspiracy theory Anthony Griggs and memes. about secret communists. RESEARCH ANALYST Janet Smith PROGRAM ASSOCIATE Karla Griffin 64 Life After Hate Former white supremacists discuss how they took an idea born RESEARCHERS Angela Freeman, Karmetriya Jackson in Europe and started an ExitUSA program aimed at helping peo- DESIGN DIRECTOR ple leave the racist movement. Russell Estes DESIGNERS Shannon Anderson, Valerie Downes, Michelle Leland, Sunny Paulk, Scott Phillips, Kristina Turner PRODUCTION MANAGER Regina Collins SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR DEPARTMENTS Alex Amend 3 Intelligence Briefs MEDIA AND GENERAL INQUIRIES Heidi Beirich Candidates’ extremist views are aired; white nationalist leader LAW ENFORCEMENT INQUIRIES Laurie Wood Willis Carto dies; “flaggers” are charged in racial confrontation; SUBSCRIPTION REQUESTS Karla Griffin and other glimpses of extremism. Southern Poverty Law Center 400 Washington Ave. • Montgomery, AL 36104 (334) 956-8200 • intelligencereport.org 68 For the Record PUBLISHED BY A sampling of hate crimes and hate group activities from the last THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER’S INTELLIGENCE PROJECT quarter of 2015 is summarized in state-by-state listings. 69 The Last Word SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER PRESIDENT Not everyone takes the militiamen who occupied a federal J. Richard Cohen wildlife center in Oregon seriously. A litany of “erotic fan fiction” SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER FOUNDERS lampoons the cowboy constitutionalists. Morris Dees Joseph J. Levin Jr. SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS Alan B. Howard, Chair Henry Solano, Vice Chair Marsha Levick, Elden Rosenthal, Will Little, James Rucker, Lida Orzeck, Ellen Sudow, Bryan Fair, James McElroy, LAW ENFORCEMENT INQUIRIES WELCOMED Bennett Grau, Jocelyn Benson The Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Printed with inks containing 27.3% renewable resources renewable 27.3% containing with inks Printed The Intelligence Report is published two times a year by the staff of the Intelligence welcomes law enforcement inquiries regarding radical right extremists Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and provided free of charge to law and hate groups. Please direct questions during normal business hours enforcement officials, journalists, scholars and others. The Southern Poverty to Laurie Wood via the SPLC’s general number, (334) 956-8200. Law Center is supported entirely by private donations. No government funds are involved. © 2016 Southern Poverty Law Center. All rights reserved. INTELLIGENCE Briefs EXTREMISM IN THE U.S.