New Intelligence Report Released Today

The latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, released today, focuses on the threat of homegrown Muslim terrorists, even as it warns in an editorial against demonizing Muslims in the U.S. and neglecting threats from white supremacists and others on the radical right. Entitled “Ten Years After,” a reference to the Islamist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the cover story is accompanied by profiles of 10 leading domestic jihadists and a timeline describing 30 plots since 9/11.

The issue also has two stories on antigovernment “sovereign citizens,” extremists who believe that most federal tax and criminal laws do not apply to them. The first, “‘Sovereign’ President,” describes a key group called the “Republic for the united States,” one of whose leaders was recently killed in a confrontation with police in Arizona. The second, “‘Sovereigns’ in Black,” examines the growing trend of black Americans joining the movement — despite that movement’s racist roots.

Other stories in the new quarterly issue include:

• “Christian Crusader” recounts the mass murder carried out in Norway by Anders Breivik and examines how the killer was influenced by American Islamophobes.
• “One More Enemy” looks at how extremist groups with other primary targets — principally, anti-gay religious right and anti-immigrant organizations — increasingly are attacking Muslims.
• “Acting Out” profiles the anti-Muslim group ACT! for America and details many of founder Brigitte Gabriel’s bigoted remarks.
• “The Company They Keep” is an in-depth investigation of Youth for Western Civilization, a growing campus group that says it is not racist but that has a history of white nationalism. (This story was posted earlier on Hatewatch.)
• “The Odd Couple” looks at the relationship between the overwhelmingly white Church of Scientology and the black supremacist Nation of Islam.
• “Hate in the Mainstream” reproduces hateful quotations from allegedly mainstream public figures, while “Updates on Extremism and the Law” lists important legal developments of recent months.