News & Updates

  • Jan. 6 Didn’t Set Off A Wave of Right-Wing Terrorism. Here’s What Happened Instead.

    Posted by · January 10, 2022 8:21 AM

    Opinion - Colin P. Clarke is the director of policy and research at The Soufan Group and a senior research fellow at The Soufan Center.

    Politico - Over the past year, extremism has gone mainstream, creating a new — and tougher — counterterrorism challenge for the U.S. government.

    One year out from the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, how worried should we be about far-right extremism in the United States? After that tragic day, many analysts (including myself) predicted we’d see a surge in violent attacks throughout the rest of the year. This didn’t happen — but in its place, something arguably more worrisome has occurred.

    Rather than a spate of attacks by organized groups — largely what the Biden administration has prepared for — instead we have seen a massive expansion of the broader ecosystem of far-right extremism. I study terrorism and regularly monitor the rhetoric traversing Telegram and other platforms frequented by far-right extremists. Over the past year, it’s become clear that the violence underpinning the Capitol rioters’ ideology has seeped into mainstream culture and politics. As a result, many more people can — and do — engage in extremist thoughts and actions, not just members of groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. This raises risks of violence by radicalized “lone wolves,” who are much harder to track and thwart.

    What some scholars call “mass radicalization” — the mainstreaming of extremism beyond a more organized core — presents a different sort of counter-terrorism challenge for the Biden administration. Rather than playing defense through a law enforcement-driven approach, the administration needs a comprehensive strategy that cuts across different parts of society to weaken the growing pool of extremists prepared to use violence to advance their ideological goals.

    Remarkably for a year that started off with an unprecedented display of political violence, 2021 saw zero major terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, nor did we experience anything resembling the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. One reason is that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has artificially suppressed terrorism plots and attacks that we might have seen otherwise. At the same time, lockdowns, isolation and stress have exacerbated many of the underlying factors that contribute to extremism, while also making mental health matters more acute. Meanwhile, 2020 and 2021 were record years for the sale of weapons and ammunition. Americans are anxious, angry and well-armed — a combustible combination.

    Another reason for fewer incidents of domestic terrorism during 2021 is that far-right extremists, both individuals and formal organizations, have likely been cowed by an aggressive law enforcement response to Jan. 6. To date, more than 700 individuals have been charged with federal crimes for their role in the insurrection. The city of Washington, D.C., has sued the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, seeking severe financial penalties. Given how paranoid many far-right extremist groups are about being infiltrated by law enforcement, many have gone underground and attempted to drop off the grid to avoid further entanglement with the authorities.

    However, it would be a mistake to conclude that the problem has faded away. Though we haven’t seen the most visible signs of growing extremism, a more extreme climate is permeating our society, culture and politics. Far-right talking points about election interference and comparisons of public health officials to Nazis are now part of mainstream political dialogue among Republicans. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci needs around-the-clock personal security for him and his family, who regularly receive death threats. In November, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) tweeted an anime video that depicted him murdering his Democratic colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and swinging swords at President Joe Biden. Slogans like “Let’s Go Brandon,” a euphemism for more vulgar language denigrating the president, are commonly seen on everything from bumper stickers to baseball caps. Whereas terrorism analysts are used to seeing violent language on niche platforms like Parler, it’s far more unusual for the discourse to spill into statements by elected officials and political candidates.

    Read More

  • What Really Happened to Capitol Police During the Insurrection

    Posted by · January 06, 2022 8:24 AM

    VICE News - On January 6, 2021, hundreds of people breached the United State Capitol Building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election. Many participants documented their actions on social media for the world to see. The attack left 5 dead, at least 138 police officers injured and resulted in more than $30 million in damage and security upgrades. On July 27, four of the police officers who helped defend the Capitol that day provided testimony to Congress. In this special episode of Source Material we hear their testimonies and see the violence they were subjected to.

  • NYPD reports 361 percent increase

    Posted by · January 03, 2022 8:25 AM

    NBC - New crime statistics in New York City show a significant increase in anti-Asian hate crimes this past year. 

    Incidents targeting Asians rose by 361 percent, from 28 last year to 129 as of Sunday, the New York Police Department said at a news conference this week.

    With several potential factors behind the surge, like increased awareness around reporting these crimes, Russell Jeung, co-founder of the hate incident reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate, cautioned against interpreting the data as an exact reflection of the extent to which Asian Americans experienced racism. 

    “It is consistent with a general surge in racism against Asian Americans, first of all," Jeung said. "It’s consistent with the increase in crimes during the epidemic. And then thirdly, reflective of the Asian American community more likely to report."  

    The news conference featured findings from the NYPD Hate Crime Review Panel, a civilian group that helps law enforcement identify potential hate crimes. James Essig, chief of detectives, said that anti-Asian incidents in part drove the city’s 100 percent overall increase in hate crimes this year. Crimes relating to sexual orientation also fueled the general jump, growing from 29 to 85 cases, as well as those targeting the Jewish community, which went from 121 to 183. 

    Officials said that in the 503 total hate crimes this year, the NYPD made 249 arrests, representing a 106 percent increase from last year. Crimes included a range of “heinous” assaults to vandalism, Devorah Halberstam, the panel’s chair, said. Perpetrators included individuals with mental illness. 

    Read More

  • Far-right terror poses bigger threat to US than Islamist extremism post-9/11

    Posted by · December 16, 2021 8:24 AM

    Guardian - Since the 9/11 attack, far-right extremists killed more people in the US than did American-based Islamist fundamentalists

    Donald Trump’s presidency was bookended with two of the ugliest outbursts of white nationalist violence in 21st century America – the 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville and the 2021 storming of the US Capitol by his extremist supporters to sabotage the election results.

    Rightwing apologists like to downplay these lethal events or dismiss them as aberrations, but experts warn this is a form of terrorism that’s not only entrenched but has ballooned to become the biggest domestic security threat in the US.

    In the 20 years since 9/11, far-right extremists killed more people in the US than did American-based Islamist fundamentalists – but that’s often hard to discern from the way the federal government has treated domestic terrorism.

    Earlier this year an intelligence report warned that racially-motivated extremists posed the most lethal domestic terrorism threat. It said the menace was now more serious than potential attacks from overseas, and the White House published a strategy for countering the problem.

    The FBI director, Christopher Wray, told Congress that the 6 January insurrection wasn’t an isolated event and “the problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a number of years”.

    Wray added that white supremacists comprise “the biggest chunk of our domestic terrorism portfolio overall” and “have been responsible for the most lethal attacks over the last decade”.

    Read More

  • White supremacists who stormed US Capitol are only the most visible product of racism

    Posted by · December 13, 2021 8:31 AM

    The Conversation - Among the Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were members of right-wing groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters.

    The increasing violence and visibility of these groups have turned them into symbols of white supremacy and racism. They were involved in the deadly Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 and street clashes with racial justice protesters in Portland, Oregon, last year. At a Trump rally in Washington, D.C., in December, Black Lives Matter banners were torn from two historically Black churches and destroyed. The Proud Boys’ leader has been criminally charged in those acts.

    Many Proud Boys reject the label “white supremacist”, arguing their aim is to “save America” and to defend “Western values.”

    White supremacy was itself a longstanding Western value. And white people don’t have to be white supremacists to benefit from the ways it still shapes American society.

    White supremacy, then and now

    As an ideology, white supremacy is the belief that white people are inherently superior to people of color. It relies on the notion that distinct races of people exist, and ranks those categorized as “white” at the top of the racial hierarchy.

    For hundreds of years, American leaders overtly embraced white supremacy. It was used to rationalize the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans and their descendants from the Colonial period to the 19th century. In an 1858 debate, President Abraham Lincoln said, “I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.”

    Known for abolishing slavery, Lincoln’s position may come as a surprise. But many U.S. abolitionists wanted white people to maintain power in government and everyday life, including after Black people were freed from bondage.

    After abolition in 1865, white supremacy continued in official and unofficial ways. It drove the legal racial segregation of Jim Crow and the banking practice of redlining, which robbed Black families of the loans necessary to buy homes in certain neighborhoods. White supremacy also underlay the forced assimilation and killing of Native Americans.

    Outright racist policies were banned after the civil rights era of the 1960s. But systemic racism remained. Today’s well-documented inequalities between Black and white Americans in savings, longevity, home ownership and health are directly related to the white supremacist hierarchy created centuries ago.

    Hidden white supremacy

    White people need not endorse white supremacy to benefit from this hierarchy. As psychologist Beverly Tatum has explained, the privileges afforded to whiteness are so much a part of the structure of U.S. society that many white people don’t even notice them.

    For example, a white man is unlikely to be stopped and frisked by police. A white high school student probably won’t be asked if she’s in the right room on the first day of an honors class. And it likely won’t occur to either to reflect on these privileges.

    A white person is similarly unlikely to wonder why no one ever asks “but where are you really from?” after introducing themselves. And a white child likely won’t notice that nearly everyone in their textbooks looks like them.

    All of these affronts, both minor and major, are experiences many people of color face throughout their lives.

    Not noticing one’s racial privilege does not make a white person a white supremacist. That racial privilege affects countless aspects of daily life does, however, mean that U.S. society is still shaped by white supremacy.

    Read More

  • The idea that anti-racist is a code word for “anti-white” is the claim of avowed extremists

    Posted by · December 09, 2021 8:39 AM

    The Mantra of White Supremacy

    The idea that anti-racist is a code word for “anti-white” is the claim of avowed extremists.

    The Atlantic - Below a Democratic donkey, the Fox News graphic read ANTI-WHITE MANIA. It flanked Tucker Carlson’s face and overtook it in size. It was unmistakable. Which was the point.

    The segment aired on June 25—the height of the manic attack on, and redefinition of, critical race theory, which Carlson has repeatedly cast as “anti-white.” It was one of his most incendiary segments of the year. “The question is, and this is the question we should be meditating on, day in and day out, is how do we get out of this vortex, the cycle, before it’s too late?” Carlson asked. “How do we save this country before we become Rwanda?”

    Some white Americans have been led to fear that they could be massacred like the Tutsis of Rwanda. CRT=Marxism, Marxism→Genocide Every time, read a sign at a June 23 Proud Boys demonstration in Miami. Other white Americans have been led to fear America’s teachers—79 percent of whom are white—instructing “kids to identify in racial terms,” as Blake Masters, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, said in May. “You are good or bad, depending on what you look like. At this point it is straight up anti-white racism. I don’t think we’re allowed to say that. But let’s call it what it is.”

    Even when GOP politicians and operatives don’t openly “call it what it is,” they end up echoing Masters nonetheless, saying without saying that “critical race theory is explicitly anti-white,” to use the words of Christopher F. Rufo, a travel-documentary filmmaker turned leading critic of CRT. At his final campaign rally, in Loudoun County, Virginia, Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin said, “What we won’t do is teach our children to view everything through a lens of race where we divide them into buckets and one group is an oppressor and the other is a victim and we pit them against each other and we steal their dreams.”

    Republicans provoked a backlash against CRT, which they also call anti-racism or wokism. Their backlash won 2021 elections. “But it wasn’t a backlash of parents,” William Saletan found in his close study of polling data. “It was a backlash of white people.”

    How many Americans know that the claim that anti-racism is harmful to white people is one of the basic mantras of white-supremacist ideology? Americans are familiar with white-supremacist movements like the Klan, skinheads, neo-Nazis, and the Proud Boys. But they don’t seem to recognize white-supremacist ideology—the most venomous form of racist ideology. I suspect that many Americans don’t know how much white-supremacist ideology shapes their political thought and America’s political discourse, and allows juries to exonerate racism and convict anti-racism.

    Read More

     

  • The history of tensions — and solidarity — between Black and Asian American communities, explained

    Posted by · December 06, 2021 8:44 AM

    Vox - How white supremacy tried to divide Black and Asian Americans — and how communities worked to find common ground.

    Against the backdrop of anti-racism protests last summer, racist violence was surging in Chinatowns and Asian American communities across the country.

    In July, an 89-year-old Chinese woman was set on fire while walking on the street after being slapped in the face in Brooklyn, New York. The two assailants, she said, didn’t say a word before attacking her. She scrambled to put out the fire, but it left a large burn mark on the back of her pink blouse — a grisly reminder of the attack.

    It was not an isolated incident. Between March 19 and December 31, 2020, there were more than 2,808 “firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate,” according to a report by Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that has been tracking reports on anti-Asian violence — a 150 percent rise since 2019. From being barred from establishments to being spat or coughed on, Asian Americans have reported physical and verbal harassment throughout the pandemic, as they’ve been used as a xenophobic scapegoat for the spread of a virus that originated in China. According to one survey conducted last April, 32 percent of Americans have “witnessed someone blaming Asian people” for Covid-19, and 60 percent of Asian Americans have witnessed this behavior.

    This year, the attacks have seemed to take a more gruesome and visible turn: A 61-year-old Filipino man was slashed in the face as he rode the subway in New York; a 64-year-old Vietnamese woman was robbed in a parking lot in San Jose ahead of Lunar New Year; and an 84-year-old Thai man was shoved to the ground in San Francisco, which resulted in his death.

    These attacks may have been spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and then-President Donald Trump repeatedly using racist terms for the virus, but anti-Asian sentiment in the United States is not new — just look to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese immigrants from becoming US citizens, and President Franklin Roosevelt’s executive order in 1942 that put Japanese Americans into internment camps.

    “When the pandemic emerged and the president began calling the virus ‘kung flu’ or ‘China virus,’ those who were aware of how race operates knew that we were about to experience a surge of racism that we haven’t seen in a while,” said Pastor Raymond Chang, founder and president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative, a faith-based group advocating for Asian American communities while also leading Black and Asian solidarity. “Racism against Asian Americans has always been a part of the fabric of our society. It just depends on whether it’s overt and violent, or subtle and kind of flies under the radar.”

    Read More

  • Racism against Asian Americans another danger of pandemic

    Posted by · December 02, 2021 9:26 AM

    Told to go back to your country.

    Accused of spreading COVID-19.

    Spat upon.

    For Asian American and Asian people in the U.S., COVID-19 is far from the only danger of the worldwide pandemic.

    As anti-Asian sentiments and incidents of violence associated with the pandemic increased in the U.S., Russell Jeung co-founded Stop AAPI Hate with the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University in March 2020.

    On Tuesday, Jeung, a sociologist and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, gave the keynote at this year’s UW–Madison Diversity Forum — “Ending Asian Hate: The Asian American Community Responds.”

    “I’m still sort of stupefied how much anger and hate is directed towards Asians,” Jeung said. “It’s really chilling and has been really painful for me.”

    Stop AAPI Hate tracks COVID-19-related hate, violence and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, develops community resources and advocates for policy interventions to end racism. During the pandemic, more than 9,000 incidents have been reported, with Jeung pointing out that it’s only a fraction of what people experience.

    Read More

  • White Nationalist Groups - SPLC

    Posted by · November 29, 2021 8:21 AM

    SPLC - White nationalist groups espouse white supremacist or white separatist ideologies, often focusing on the alleged inferiority of nonwhites. Groups listed in a variety of other categories—Ku Klux Klan, neo-Confederate, neo-Nazi, racist skinhead and Christian Identity—could also be fairly described as white nationalist.

    The number of white nationalist groups dipped in 2020, down 27 groups from 2019. While COVID-19 partially explains the change, most of the decline was due to the disbanding of American Identity Movement, one of the largest and mostly active white nationalist groups in the country in recent years. This year, activity plummeted until Patrick Casey finally announced the group’s dissolution in November. Much of that energy has shifted toward the so-called Groyper movement, which is not organized into a formal group.

    Chapters of The Right Stuff also declined as the leaders focused their energy on their podcast platform and the National Justice Party. They have also faced criticism from other white power activists for placing monetary gain above growing their movement.

    Many white nationalist groups have failed to find footing on mainstream social media sites and fled to platforms like Telegram and Parler.

    White nationalists have had difficulty raising money online because many payment processors have banned them from their services. Most now rely on cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin and Monero.

    The federal government provided a boost to 14 hate groups, including American Renaissance, by providing them with PPP funds meant to provide relief from the pandemic.

     

    The white nationalist movement is on two different tracks. One is focused on harnessing populist anger and frustration at Trump’s loss to channel people into their movement. Figures like Nick Fuentes are attacking mainstream conservatives while painting themselves as the future of the right in America. Most of the people associated with this part of the white nationalist movement do not belong to groups and likely will not join any in the near future.

    The other part of the movement believes in the strategies of accelerationism. While some join groups like The Base, the movement is increasingly decentralized. Most adherents exist as part of the online accelerationist subculture, where they absorb extremist ideas without some of the risks involved in joining a group. This does not mean the movement is any less dangerous; lone actors motivated by white power ideology remain a persistent threat.

    There is increasing overlap in the rhetoric of these two tracks. Among the whole of the white nationalist movement there is a growing belief that “political solutions” are no longer viable – an idea that seems especially convincing in the aftermath of Trump’s loss. Intimidation and other acts of violence are increasingly accepted on the far right, perhaps best exemplified by its embrace of Kyle Rittenhouse. Increasingly violent language is common within the movement’s rhetoric and anti-democratic ideas will likely seep further into the political mainstream.

    Read More

    2020 white nationalist hate groups

    Southern Poverty Law Center

    View all groups by state and by ideology.
    *Asterisk denotes headquarters​

    Affirmative Right
    Atlanta, GA*

    American Freedom Party
    Los Angeles, CA*
    Bradenton, FL
    Granbury, TX
    Indiana
    Montana
    New York
    New York, NY

    American Freedom Union
    Hampton Township, PA*

    American Identity Movement
    Harpers Ferry, WV*
    Alabama
    Connecticut
    Kentucky
    Minnesota
    Missouri
    Nevada
    Ohio
    Rhode Island
    Sacramento, CA
    Washington, DC

    American Patriots USA
    Dahlonega, GA*

    American Renaissance/New Century Foundation
    Oakton, VA*

    Antelope Hill Publishing
    Quakertown, PA*

    Arktos Media
    New York, NY*

    Blood River Radio
    Bartlett, TN*

    Christ the King Reformed Church
    Charlotte, MI*

    Colchester Collection, The
    Machias, ME*

    Council of Conservative Citizens
    Blackwell, MO*

    Counter-Currents Publishing
    San Francisco, CA*

    Cursus Honorum Foundation
    Austin, TX

    Exodus/Americanus
    Floyds Knobs, IN*

    Fight White Genocide
    Cayce, SC*

    Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation, The
    Vienna, VA*

    H.L. Mencken Club
    Elizabethtown, PA*

    International Conservative Community
    California
    Colorado
    Montana
    Pennsylvania

    Koschertified?
    San Marcos, CA*

    Legion of St. Ambrose
    Knoxville, TN*

    National Justice Party
    Butler, PA*

    National Policy Institute
    Alexandria, VA*

    National Reformation Party
    California*
    Arizona
    Michigan
    Minnesota
    Mississippi
    South Carolina
    Tennessee
    Texas

    New Albion
    Jackman, ME*

    New Jersey European Heritage Association
    New Jersey*

    Northwest Front
    Seattle, WA*

    Occidental Dissent
    Eufaula, AL*

    Occidental Observer
    Laguna Hills, CA*

    Occidental Quarterly/Charles Martel Society
    Atlanta, GA

    Our Fight Clothing
    California*

    Patriot Front
    Texas*
    Arizona
    Arkansas
    California
    Colorado
    Connecticut
    District of Columbia
    Florida
    Georgia
    Idaho
    Illinois
    Indiana
    Iowa
    Kentucky
    Louisiana
    Maine
    Maryland
    Massachusetts
    Michigan
    Minnesota
    Mississippi
    Missouri
    Nebraska
    Nevada
    New Hampshire
    New Jersey
    New York
    North Carolina
    Ohio
    Oklahoma
    Oregon
    Pennsylvania
    Rhode Island
    South Carolina
    Tennessee
    Utah
    Vermont
    Virginia
    Washington
    West Virginia
    Wisconsin
    Wyoming

    Patriots Flags
    Summerville, SC*

    Political Cesspool, The
    Bartlett, TN*

    Racial Nationalist Party of America
    Lockport, NY*

    Radix Journal
    Alexandria, VA*

    Real Republic of Florida
    Tallahassee, FL*

    Red Ice
    Harrisonburg, VA*

    Renaissance Horizon
    Summerville, SC*

    Revolt Through Tradition
    Florida
    Georgia
    Indiana
    Massachusetts

    Right Brand Clothing
    Anaheim, CA*

    Rise Above Movement
    Huntington Beach, CA*

    Scott-Townsend Publishers
    Washington, DC*

    Shieldwall Network
    Mountain View, AR*

    Social Contract Press
    Petoskey, MI*

    Stormfront
    West Palm Beach, FL*

    The Base
    California
    Georgia
    Maryland
    Michigan
    Washington
    Wisconsin

    The Right Stuff
    Hopewell Junction, NY*
    Pennsylvania
    Virginia Beach, VA

    VDARE Foundation
    Warrenton, VA*

    White Rabbit Radio
    Dearborn Heights, MI*

    Will2Rise
    Saint Lucie County, FL

  • There's nothing more frightening in America today than an angry White man

    Posted by · November 22, 2021 8:28 AM

    CNN - The Brute. The Buck. And, of course, the Thug.

    Those are just some of the names for a racial stereotype that has haunted the collective imagination of White America since the nation's inception.

    The specter of the angry Black man has been evoked in politics and popular culture to convince White folks that a big, bad Black man is coming to get them and their daughters.

    I've seen viral videos of innocent Black men losing their lives because of this stereotype. I've watched White people lock their car doors or clutch their purses when men who look like me approach. I've been racially profiled.

    It's part of the psychological tax you pay for being a Black man in America -- learning to accept that you are seen by many as Public Enemy No. 1.

    But as I've watched three separate trials about White male violence unfold across the US these past few weeks -- the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, the Ahmaud Arbery death trial and the civil case against organizers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville -- I've come to a sobering conclusion:

    There is nothing more frightening in America today than an angry White man.

    It's not the "radical Islamic terrorist" that I fear the most. Nor is it the brown immigrant or the fiery Black Lives Matter protester, or whatever the latest bogeyman is that some politician tells me I should dread.

    It's encountering an armed White man in public who has been inspired by the White men on trial in these three cases.

    Read More