Number of U.S. hate groups jumps 20 percent since 2014: watchdog
Source: Reuters
FEBRUARY 21, 2018 / 12:09 PM / UPDATED 23 MINUTES AGO
Ian Simpson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. hate groups rose again in 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first year in office, and has surged 20 percent since 2014, a U.S. civil rights watchdog said on Wednesday.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s annual census identified 954 hate groups in 2017, a 4 percent rise from the year before. The increase followed a 2.8 increase in 2016, and the most recent number represents a jump of one-fifth from 2014.
Among the more than 600 U.S. white supremacist groups, neo-Nazi organizations rose to 121 from 99. Anti-Muslim groups increased for a third year in a row, to 114 from 101 in 2016, after tripling in number a year earlier, the report said.
“President Trump in 2017 reflected what white supremacist groups want to see: a country where racism is sanctioned by the highest office, immigrants are given the boot and Muslims banned,” Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, said in a statement.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-hate-groups/number-of-u-s-hate-groups-jumps-20-percent-since-2014-watchdog-idUSKCN1G5286
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