Defying a federal judge’s order, about 40 armed protesters marched onto the outdoor plaza at the U.S. Courthouse in Spokane where one of their leaders was arrested last week for carrying a loaded assault rifle onto federal property – a seemingly scripted event that galvanized concern nationwide from pro-gun, militia and antigovernment groups.
The number of “nativist extremist” groups dropped from 33 to 19 in 2014, continuing a long fall from a peak of 319 such groups in 2010.
It has been quite the year at Hatewatch. We’ve identified those who hide in anonymity while financing the racist right. We’ve kept you abreast of events that have plotted the course of the antigovernment movement as it tries to make headway into the mainstream. And we’ve documented in detail the fallacies spread far and wide by major anti-LGBT leaders, especially as they move to advance their agenda abroad.
Columbia University expert Donald Green argues that hate crimes tend to spike when rapid in-migration of minority groups occurs in formerly white neighborhoods. Perhaps that helps explain the sheer ugliness of the events in Murrieta, Calif., this July — events that came during the week of Independence Day, when Americans gather to celebrate our country and its democratic values.
A movement was born this summer during the crisis over migrant children at the border. Are the vigilante extremists back for good?
