人兽性交

In the final year of a Trump presidency that propelled racist conspiracy theories and white nationalist ideology into the聽political聽mainstream, far-right extremists聽continued to migrate to online networks聽as the number of聽hate groups declined聽for a second year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center鈥檚 annual聽Year in Hate and Extremism听谤别辫辞谤迟 released today.

The 人兽性交 identified聽838聽hate groups operating across the United States聽in 2020,聽a decrease from the聽940 documented in 2019聽and聽the聽record-high聽1,020 in 2018.聽The report contains a list of hate groups and a map pinpointing their locations.

The number of聽hate groups in the 人兽性交 census, conducted each year since 1990,聽is a barometer of extremism in the country, but not聽the only one聽鈥� and the drop聽from聽the previous year does聽not聽signal a decline in extremist activity or the聽threat of domestic terrorism.聽Just last week, the聽U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a聽rare聽聽in response to the growing threat from domestic extremists. 聽

鈥淔or three decades,聽we have attempted to sound the alarm about these groups, their growth and the dangers they pose,鈥� said聽Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the 人兽性交.聽鈥淚t is聽clearer聽now聽than ever that our nation faces an increasingly dangerous threat from homegrown extremists ranging from anti-government militias to hate groups and white supremacists.鈥澛�

In fact,聽the proliferation of internet platforms聽that cater to extremists聽allows individuals to engage聽with聽potentially violent movements like QAnon and Boogaloo without being card-carrying members of a particular group. This phenomenon has blurred聽the boundaries of hate groups and far-right ideologies, helping聽coalesce聽a聽broader but more聽loosely affiliated movement of far-right extremists who reject the country鈥檚 democratic institutions and pluralistic society.聽

鈥淭he insurrection at the Capitol was the culmination of years of right-wing radicalization,鈥澛爏aid Susan Corke, director of the 人兽性交鈥檚 Intelligence Project.聽鈥淢ost聽recently,聽it was聽the product of Donald Trump鈥檚聽support for and encouragement of radicalized individuals and groups to buy into conspiracy theories聽about a 鈥榮tolen election.鈥櫬燭rump聽may no longer be in the White House, but the white nationalist聽and extremist聽movement he emboldened and incited聽to violence聽is not going anywhere 鈥� and may grow more dangerous to our country.鈥澛犅�

In an 人兽性交 survey in August, 29 percent of respondents said they personally know someone who believes that white people are the superior race.聽The poll also found that聽51 percent of Americans thought the looting聽that聽occurred in several cities聽amid Black Lives Matter rallies聽was a bigger problem than police violence against Black people.聽

As detailed in the聽Year in Hate聽and Extremism听谤别辫辞谤迟,聽the 人兽性交 in 2020 recorded nearly 4,900 racist聽蹿濒测别谤颈苍驳听颈苍肠颈诲别苍迟蝉, in which hate groups distributed flyers containing racist or extremist content.聽The number more than tripled the 1,500 incidents documented by the 人兽性交 in 2019.

Several factors聽contributed to聽the decrease in hate group numbers聽in 2020. Some groups ceased their in-person activity because of the聽COVID-19聽pandemic. Also, hate聽groups聽are increasingly being kicked off their聽mainstream聽social media platforms and communicating聽in encrypted chatrooms, making it harder to track their聽activities.聽

Another factor is the continuing collapse of the Ku Klux Klan,聽as younger extremists move into newer groups that do not carry the same stigma as a group聽long associated with white supremacist terror.聽In 2020, Klan聽chapters聽dwindled to 25, down from 47 in 2019 and down significantly from years past,聽when there were typically about 150 chapters聽in any given year.聽

Despite the massive drop in Klan groups, there are now numerous,聽alternative hate groups that make Klan membership obsolete. The Proud Boys, for example, vandalized historically Black churches in Washington, D.C., during a pro-Trump demonstration in December, and its members were聽aggressively聽front and center during the聽attack on the聽Capitol.聽聽

The number of white nationalist groups聽also declined聽from 155 in 2020 to 128 after聽posting huge growth during the聽Trump era. This聽decline聽may reflect the fact that white nationalist groups, like neo-Nazi groups, are becoming more diffuse and difficult to quantify as they proliferate online and聽use聽encrypted platforms.聽

Anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-人兽性交 hate groups, which are typically more successful than white supremacist groups at laundering their ideas into mainstream political discourse, saw their numbers remain largely stable, though their in-person organizing was curtailed due to the pandemic.聽

Photo by Reuters/Seth Herald