Many hate groups had a rocky year, as several of the largest groups suffered leadership crises in 2004. The nation's premier neo-Nazi group, the National Alliance, continued to lose members in 2004, including its membership coordinator David Pringle, as its leader, Erich Gliebe, came under severe attack for incompetence by his membership. Though they continued to actively support the National Alliance's white supremacist ideology, several chapters of the group split off to form their own factions.

The Aryan Nations suffered a major loss with the death of its founder, Richard Butler, in September. The group relocated to Lincoln, Ala., and formed a committee to lead it. In 2004, the Aryan Nations remained the fourth largest neo-Nazi organization, though whether it will survive into the future is unclear.

The Creativity Movement, formerly the World Church of the Creator, survived the criminal conviction for solicitation to murder a federal judge of its "Pontifex Maximus," Matt Hale, who is in prison awaiting sentencing, scheduled for April 6. Though the number of its chapters fell, the Creativity Movement still was the third largest neo-Nazi group, after the National Alliance and the National Socialist Movement.

Though several of the major hate groups ended 2004 basically decapitated in terms of their leadership, their memberships continue to actively engage in white supremacist activities. The National Alliance was especially active, distributing thousands of racist and anti-Semitic fliers, putting up anti-immigrant billboards and holding protests. This may signal that in the future white supremacist groups will no longer function as cults of personality, but rather gain their strength from their grassroots membership.

SPLC Report
March 2005