Membership, Influence of Far-right Extremist Groups Decline: ADL

The influence of American far-right extremist hate groups such as the Ku Klu Klan (KKK), The Order and Aryan Nations has declined markedly and membership has reached the lowest point in 10 years, according to a report issued Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. According to the report, the decline of the hate groups is an outcome of a massive and sweeping federal crackdown against their criminal activities.

The report, “The Hate Movement in America: A Chronicle of Violence and Disarray,” revealed that KKK membership now stands at approximately 5,000 — down nearly 20 percent from its estimated total of more than 6,000 in 1984 and about half of what it was in 1981. The ranks of neo-Nazis in America have also shown a 10 to 20 percent decline since 1984 to between 400 and 450.

The ADL, which has monitored Klan and hate group activity for decades, also reported that violence-prone, anti-Semitic and racist groups such as The Order and Aryan Nations have been seriously weakened with many of their leaders in prison or awaiting trial for criminal activity.

The report was released at the ADL’s annual National Commission meeting at the Grand Hyatt Hotel here.

INCREASED PROSECUTION

Criminal prosecutions of the organized hate movement in America have been triggered by a wave of extremist criminal violence in the past three years, which according to ADL chairman Burton Levinson has exceeded the amount perpetrated over the past 20 years. These included:

Convictions and imprisonment of key members of The Order, Aryan Nations, as well as the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord, which are members of the so-called “Identity” movement that claims Anglo-Saxons are the “true Israel” and Jews are “of the devil.” Their leaders have been prosecuted for crimes, including several murders, the bombings of two synagogues, the attempted bombing of a natural gas pipeline and numerous armed robberies.

Indictments and pending trials of 10-hate-movement leaders charged with plotting to overthrow the U.S. government.

Pending prosecutions of members of two violence-prone Identity groups in Arizona and Nevada on charges that include conspiracy to commit armed robbery and issuance of death threats against federal officials.

Convictions of members of the Florida Realm of the United Klans of America for conducting illegal paramilitary training.

Convictions of leaders and other members of the White Patriot Party, a hybrid Klan and neo-Nazi group centered in North Carolina — also in connection with proscribed paramilitary training and for conspiracy to acquire military weapons stolen from the U.S. Army. The group has recently changed its name to the Southern National Front.

In addition, there was $7 million damages award against one of the largest Klan factions in this country, the United Klans of America, resulting from a civil lawsuit brought on behalf of the family of a Black teenager murdered by members of the organization in Alabama in 1981. As a result, recruitment has come to a halt.

The report, which was prepared by ADL’s Fact Finding Department under the direction of Justin Finger, director of the agency’s Civil Rights Division, said the extremists’ criminal activity has stemmed in part from their sense of desperation over their failure to grow through propaganda techniques. The extremists’ violence, in turn, has led to even greater isolation.

The report said the hate groups have tried in recent months to use racial tensions, such as those in Forsyth County, Ga., and Howard Beach, NY, as rallying points to unite and energize their beleaguered forces. But these events “have provided only brief periods of enthusiasm for activists rather than any lasting build-up in the ranks of the Klan and neo-Nazi groups,” the report said.

In describing the current status of the U.S. neo-Nazi movement, the report said a major segment of it has experienced difficulties during the past two years. Two “heirs” of George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, have changed the names of their organizations and moved their headquarters recently from Arlington, Va., to rural areas in West Virginia and Wisconsin.

One of these neo-Nazi groups, now known as the New Order, is the most direct successor of Rockwell’s original organization. It has a hard core of 25 activities with dues-paying followers numbering about 100. The other, the National Alliance, is creating a racist compound in West Virginia under the name Cosmotheist Community Church. ADL has challenged the “church’s” tax exempt status.

In addition to criminal prosecutions, the report pointed out, the extremists have also been weakened by a ban on the use of U.S. military bases as recruiting areas. The federal government issued a directive last September that prevents military personnel from engaging in activities sponsored by racist groups.

Moreover, passage of anti-paramilitary training laws in 18 states in the last several years — based on a model ADL statute — has helped reduce paramilitary training by organized hate groups to virtually nil, according to the report.