What hate groups are operating near Western North Carolina?

By Caitlyn Penter

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — News numbers from the Southern Poverty Law Center show the prevalence of hate and extremist groups in the United States.

On Wednesday, SPLC unveiled its annual Year In Hate & Extremism Report. The report recorded 733 active hate groups and 488 anti-government groups nationwide for 2021.

Leaders with the nonprofit said the number of groups is down from previous years, but that’s not necessarily a good thing.

“Extremist groups are declining because the ideas that mobilize now operate so openly in the political mainstream,” SPLC’s Cassie Miller said.

The 2021 report showed 28 active hate groups in North Carolina.

Taking a closer look at our region: the SPLC reported five hate groups within a couple hours from Asheville.

Those groups are:

The Dixie Republic, categorized as a neo-Confederate group in Travelers Rest, South Carolina Nation of Islam, categorized as an anti-Semitic group in Greenville, South Carolina Israelite School of Universal Practice Knowledge, categorized as a general hate group in Simpsonville, South Carolina Truth In Love Project, categorized as an anti-Muslim group in Maryville, Tennessee All Scripture Baptist Church, categorized as an anti-LGBTQ group in Knoxville, Tennessee

Researchers for the report said far right extremist groups have decentralized and have capitalized on the internet.

Experts said the internet was a powerful tool in planning and promoting the Jan. 6 insurrection, especially as organizers used livestreaming capabilities.

“When there is so many places online across so many different platforms where extremists can organize propagandize and recruit without ever having to join a formal group,” Miller said.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders with the SPLC said hate and extremist groups have latched onto anti-vaccine and anti-mask rhetoric, adding that many have been involved with controversies at school board meetings.

“A key finding this year is hate and extremist ideas are operating more in the mainstream with those subscribing to these beliefs running for office and school boards and becoming law enforcement and judges and leveraging social media to manufacturer misinformation,” said Susan Corke, with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The SPLC said far right extremist ideology promoting violence has become more popular.

“Shockingly, since Jan. 6, many Republicans, not all to be clear, have embraced or allowed increasingly violent rhetoric and wondered aloud whether violence might become a political necessity. That’s pretty scary stuff,” Corke said.

News 13 reached out to the NCGOP on Wednesday for comment, but didn’t hear back by the deadline.

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