14 Hate Groups Operating In MA, Watchdog Group Says

A new interactive map released this week shows that there are now 14 hate groups operating in Massachusetts. The updated map, prepared by the Southern Poverty Law Center, allows users to see more details, including which states have the most hate groups per capita and how the number of hate groups has changed over time at the state and national levels.

The group identified 1,020 active hate groups operating in the country last year, a record high and a 30 percent increase over the last four years. Moreover, an estimated 40 people were killed in North America in radical-right terrorist attacks last year and there were more than 1,200 incidents of hate groups passing out fliers.

The SPLC lists the 14 Massachusetts hate groups as:

• Abiding Truth Ministries, an anti-LGBT group based in Springfield
• Act for America, an anti-Muslim group with chapters in Boston and Cape Cod
• The Asatru Folk Assembly, a general hate group operating statewid
• The Atomwaffen Division, a Neo-Nazi group operating statewide
• The Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement, a general hate group based in Framingham
• Israel United in Christ, a black nationalist group based in Boston
• The Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, a black nationalist group based in Lynn
• Mass Resistance, an anti-LGBT group based in Waltham
• The Nation of Islam, a black nationalist group with chapters in Dorchester and Springfield
• The Patriot Front, a white nationalist group operating statewide
• The Proud Boys, a general hate group operating statewide
• The Right Stuff, a white nationalist group based in Boston

Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project, which publishes the award-winning Intelligence Report and the Hatewatch blog, said in a release it’s become “critically important” that people understand what she called "the landscape of hate.” The number of these groups is surging in the era of President Donald Trump, who has faced fierce criticism for his anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“We hope the new, interactive map helps people recognize and better understand the extremist activity occurring in their communities and how it’s part of a larger movement,” said Beirich.
The map allows users to filter by ideologies tracked by the organization. Some of the categories include anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-muslim, holocaust denial, Ku Klux Klan, male supremacy, Neo-Nazi, racist skinhead and white nationalist.

The map shows that states with the most hate groups per capita tend to be concentrated in the Southeast, northern Rocky Mountain regions and western Great Plains. This includes Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas, as well as Idaho and Montana.

Meanwhile, several states in the Midwest saw the least number of hate groups per capita. Among these states were Kansas, Iowa and Wyoming.

In a video accompanying the report, the group says there were roughly 375 hate groups nationwide in 1999. That number has ballooned over the years to more than 1,000 this year. Beirich called the rise “disturbing” and said it’s no coincidence the rise coincides with Trump’s election.

“The trend is unmistakable,” she said in the video. “Trump has energized the radical right by fanning the flames of racial resentment over immigration and the country’s changing demographics.”

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.