Research & Analysis

June 12, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 A man who rammed his truck into a crowd of peaceful protesters in Virginia on Sunday, injuring one person, is a Ku Klux Klan leader, authorities said. NASCAR said Wednesday that it is banning the display of the Confederate flag at all of its events and properties. A video of a uniformed New York City police officer appearing to make a white power symbol at a George Floyd protest Saturday in New York City has prompted an internal review. Read on for…

June 10, 2020 Some vocal extremists are showing up at the ongoing protests over the murder of George Floyd and police brutality. The extremists, who subscribe to a range of right wing ideologies, do not appear to be following any overarching plan or strategy, and are turning up at protests of all sizes, nationwide. Some who share the protesters’ opposition to law enforcement and government are joining the demonstrations. Others, carrying weapons, are acting as self-appointed security…

June 03, 2020 A medida que continúan las protestas — en gran parte pacíficas, pero cada vez más marcadas por enfrentamientos violentos, saqueos y vandalismo — en respuesta al asesinato de George Floyd por la policía en Minneapolis, los expertos de derecha y un grupo ideológicamente diverso de teóricos de la conspiración han afirmado que George Soros ha fomentado el caos. El lenguaje agresivo contra Soros se ha disparado en los…

June 02, 2020 As protests – still largely peaceful, but increasingly marked by violent confrontations, looting and vandalism -- continue in response to the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, right-wing pundits and an ideologically diverse crew of conspiracy theorists have alleged that George Soros has played a role in fomenting the chaos. Aggressive language towards Soros has exploded on social media sites like Twitter, where a sample assessment showed that negative…

May 22, 2020 On May 1, 2020, when boogaloo activists organized a protest against coronavirus public safety measures in Raleigh, North Carolina, many attendees carried firearms in defiance of state laws prohibiting guns at public demonstrations. It was a scene played out across the country in recent weeks, as boogalooers are energized by resistance to lockdown restrictions, which they view as tyrannical government overreach. Boogaloo adherents have shown up at numerous lockdown protests, waving…

May 22, 2020 At nationwide rallies against policies aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, highly visible protesters are comparing government officials to Nazis and their policies to the Nazi persecution of Jews during World War II. The tactic of employing Nazi- and Holocaust-related analogies is not new -- it has been used by protesters and pundits for decades. But these analogies, laden as they are with allusions to unqualified evil, tyranny and persecution, continue to provoke outrage…

May 21, 2020 As quickly as the coronavirus spread across the world, white supremacist merchandising companies seized the opportunity to profit from it. Companies in the United States and Europe are marketing coronavirus-related wares from clothing to facemasks to stickers, many adorned with white supremacist related symbols or codes. The German-based white supremacist merchandising company Druck18 (the 18 in this case likely stands for the numeric reference to the letters “A”…

May 18, 2020 Key Highlights: While there were no attacks or murders linked to domestic Islamist extremism in 2019, there were 30 arrests, nine of which were for terror plots, indicating that Islamist extremism continues to pose a threat to the United States. In 2019, there was a 50 percent increase in arrests and plots linked to domestic Islamist extremism. The 2019 terror plot targets highlight extremists’ sustained focus on targeting religious institutions, and antisemitism…

May 15, 2020 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. hit an all-time high in 2019, according to data released this week by ADL. Two Queens men are under arrest for allegedly trying to buy high-power weapons, amid ongoing talk by one about targeting Jews -- including praising last year's Hanukkah attack in Monsey. And the Never Again Education Act, which would help provide federal funding to expand Holocaust education in the US, passed the Senate with bipartisan support. Read…

May 08, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 Antisemitic signs and imagery are seen at anti-quarantine rallies across the country, including in Chicago, where a protester held up a sign with a Nazi slogan that appeared on the gates of Auschwitz. A new report outlines the failures of Steam to adequately address the prevalence of extremists and neo-Nazis on the gaming platform. And in California, a man was seen donning a Ku Klux Klan hood as he shopped for groceries. Read on for more on these…

May 04, 2020 On March 24, 2020, a white supremacist interrupted a webinar about antisemitism hosted by a Massachusetts Jewish student group by pulling his shirt collar down to reveal a swastika tattoo on his chest. A day later, a similar incident occurred in California when someone disrupted an online class hosted by a JCC (Jewish Community Center); the perpetrator launched into a minutes-long, profanity-laced, antisemitic rant and removed his shirt to display a swastika tattoo on his chest…

April 24, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3A series of anti-quarantine rallies took place across the country this week, several of which were sponsored in whole or part by identified extremists and featured antisemitic content. A new ADL survey released on Holocaust Remembrance Day found that more than half of America’s Jews have either experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident over the past five years. And Israel’s year-long political stalemate has come to an end, with the…

April 23, 2020 “Where’s the fighting spirit?” an angry Chuck Baldwin asked his assembled “Liberty Fellowship” congregation in Kalispell, Montana, in late March 2020. “Where’s the spirit of resistance…able to discern whenever the forces of tyranny would usurp our constitutional liberties?”  People needed to understand, he said, “the importance that we have as a church to resist the forces of evil.” The purported evil…

April 21, 2020 Headline: Coronavirus: Anti-Immigration, Xenophobia and Homophobia Short description: Extremists are using fear of the virus to stoke nativist, homophobic hate As the coronavirus continues to surge globally, virus-related conspiracy theories are proliferating online. These antisemitic, xenophobic, hateful messages spread misplaced blame and misinformation, making it more difficult to access accurate information while elevating fear and anxiety. While some of these…

April 20, 2020 As the coronavirus continues to surge globally, virus-related conspiracy theories are proliferating online. These antisemitic, xenophobic, hateful messages spread misplaced blame and misinformation, making it more difficult to access accurate information while elevating fear and anxiety. While some of these messages are new, many are simply old tropes repackaged for a modern pandemic. Conspiracy theorists are positing that the coronavirus was manufactured by humans,…

April 20, 2020 Americans’ response to the coronavirus pandemic now includes a spate of nationwide rallies decrying stay-at-home orders and calling for “reopening” the economy. While many of the protests calling for the reopening of the economy and the lifting of state-issued quarantine mandates have been organized by more mainstream conservative organizations, a number have been sponsored in whole or part by identified extremists and a range of rally participants have carried…