Highlights
– LA Times report states that domestic extremist groups are in disarray
– Southern Poverty Law Center report states that the number of hate groups in the US has increased significantly over the past several years
– While the reports vary on specific issues, domestic extremist groups will continue to pose challenges to officials in the long-term
Over the past few weeks, several reports have been released that focus on domestic extremists and their activities since the September 11, 2001 attacks, specifically over the course of the past year. While the reports vary, they serve to highlight the ongoing challenges that domestic extremist organizations will pose to the United States in the long-term.
LA Times Reports Domestic Groups in Disarray
According to a report published in the Los Angeles Times on March 11, 2008, domestic extremist groups have been in “disarray” since the September 11, 2001 attacks, specifically those characterized by right-wing ideology. The report states that while these groups were very active and high profile in the 1990s, a significant decrease in domestic terrorism prosecutions has occurred since that time. A Syracuse University study concluded that arrests declined by 47 percent over the past five years. The report states that right-wing groups have shifted their focus away from anti-government issues and instead have been drawn to immigration and racial targets.
The report also notes that a majority of domestic extremist incidents have been related to animal rights and/or environmental activists. The report specifically highlights a study by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) that concluded from 2002 to 2005, members of these two movements perpetrated 23 out of 24 attacks by all domestic extremist groups.
Report Details Rise in Hate Groups in 2007
The Southern Poverty Law Center also recently released a report on the activities of hate groups in the US over the past several years. The report concluded that the number of groups increased to 888 in 2007, or up five percent from the 844 known groups in 2006. Specifically, the largest growth in groups occurred in California, Texas, and Arizona.
Notably, the number of hate groups operating in the country has grown by 48 percent since 2000, which the report attributes to the far right’s exploitation of the ongoing debate on immigration. According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a 35 percent increase in hate crimes targeting Latinos from 2003 to 2006 has occurred. It is believed that in a large portion of these attacks, the perpetrators believed that they were targeting immigrants.
Importantly, the report indicates that while some of the major hate groups have lost significant membership or have splintered over the years, such as the National Socialist Movement (Previous Report), new groups have formed, leading to the overall growth of the far-right extremist movement.
What Does This Mean
We agree with the reports that far right extremist groups have shifted their focus to exploiting immigration-related issues, in an effort to play upon topics that are receiving attention at the national level and therefore attempt to gain additional support and/or members. One of the central components of the white supremacist movement has been the growing number of immigrants who are entering the US and their belief that immigrants are threatening to “overpopulate” the nation and reduce the white population to a minority (Previous Report). We have noted that while the Aryan movement may be more splintered than it was during the 1990s, members remain active online, frequently utilizing the Internet as a primary method of communication as well as to raise awareness and support for their cause. Due to the shift in focus and continued use of the Internet, we believe these online activities will continue in the long-term.
We agree with the report that animal rights and environmental activists remain some of the most active members among domestic extremist groups. We have noted a slight increase in the number of non-violent protests and other acts of civil disobedience over the past year, and believe that this trend will continue in the near to mid-term. We have also noted several incidents where animal rights or environmental activists have engaged in more militant behavior against various targets, such as the use of arson or flooding a premises (Previous Report, Previous Report), however we maintain that a majority of activists will not resort to these extreme methods.
We believe that while some prominent domestic extremist groups have splintered or changed over the years, these organizations and their members will continue to pose various challenges to US authorities over the long-term.
