New York, NY, November 7, 1996...A major new guide to right wing extremism published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) details the current trends of extremism, the major organizations, and the leading individuals that constitute the focal points of far-right activity in America today. In an introductory essay to Danger: Extremism, The Major Vehicles and Voices on America's Far-Right Fringe, ADL says that developments across the spectrum of far-right extremism endanger both public safety and civic unity as extremist sentiment infiltrates the mainstream. In examining the agenda of major activists on the far right, ADL found that two characteristics are shared by nearly all of the organizations and individuals profiled in the book: contempt for the Federal government and hatred of groups different from themselves, especially Jews, Blacks, immigrants and homosexuals.

The book examines the exploitation of the Internet by far-right extremists for the purpose of recruitment and global distribution of hate propaganda. ADL reveals the mainstreaming of violent extremists who prey on the fears of American citizens to spread paranoid anti-Federal government conspiracy theories and venomous hate under the guise of legitimate political rhetoric.

"When pernicious hate seeps into the mainstream dressed as political rhetoric, it threatens to legitimize intolerance and exclusion as an acceptable means for social change," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "One of our most effective weapons against the far-right players and their organizations is knowledge, providing citizens with the ability to recognize the potential for violence and counteract venomous propaganda. We undertook this project because we are very concerned and we hope to foster a national consensus among citizens and political leadership in which extremism will be rejected."

According to ADL, hostility toward the Federal government in particular has characterized the current face of organized extremism. Danger: Extremism notes the trend of an intensified suspicion and hostility toward government among the general population. A troubling aspect of this is the rhetorical support that extremists have received from the mainstream. Evidence of the porousness of the line separating the mainstream from the fringe can be found in the National Rifle Association's equations of Federal Law enforcement agents with the Nazi Gestapo; in the recent appearances of several state legislators -- and even U.S. Congressmen -- on the talk show Radio Free America, sponsored by the anti- Semitic Liberty Lobby, and in callous demonization of immigrants and other minorities in many political campaigns.

Evidence of the threat of real danger from this growing trend of hate of the Federal government became graphic with the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The accused perpetrators of this tragedy were linked to militia and other far-right extremist organizations. In little more than two years, militias have come to outnumber the membership of the KKK, the neo-Nazis, the racist skinheads and other hate groups combined. The growth of the militia movement, however, does not mean that these traditional hate groups are no longer active; rather it signifies the reconfiguration of traditional hate group activities or passions in response to trends within the broader culture.

"We have an obligation to prevent these extremists from further dominating the tone or priorities of national debate," said Mr. Foxman. "We as citizens must exercise our own free speech rights by denouncing bigotry and appeals to violence. Through affirmation of the values of inclusion and tolerance, we enable America to approach the Constitutional ideal of liberty and freedom."

Haters have seized on the Internet to establish new vehicles for global recruitment, marketing and dissemination of propaganda. Danger: Extremism documents notorious hatemongers currently using the Internet to reach unlimited audiences around the world, including former KKK leader Don Black; Thom Robb, the current leader of David Duke's former Klan faction; Tom Metzger; "Christian Identity" Pastor Pete Peters; Canadian skinhead entrepreneur and head of racist Resistance records, George Burdi; and Bradley Smith, perhaps America's most famous Holocaust denier.

Danger: Extremism details the mainstreaming of Louisiana former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. He earned notoriety because of his nomination for president in 1988 by the extremist Populist Party. He continued to seek public office in the state of Louisiana this year by presenting himself as a mainstream politician. With Duke's example before them, some hate group leaders have believed that if they could mimic his euphemistic repackaging of traditional racist and anti-Semitic views, they too would reap his modest victories.

Within the racist Skinhead movement there has been an increase in violent activities. ADL documents a total of six murders committed by skinheads nationwide from December 1987 to June 1990. In the three years that followed, however, no fewer than 22 more took place, and since June 1993, an additional 13 homicides have been attributed to skinheads.

Among the 28 groups and movements and 57 individuals documented in the 316 pages of Danger: Extremism are: _ Four Ku Klux Klan Groups

_American Nazi Party

_Arizona Patriots

_Aryan Nations

_Common Law Courts

_Liberty Lobby

_Militia Movement

_The National Alliance

_SS Action Group _Skinheads

_Louis Beam

_Gerhard Lauck

_William Pierce

_Ernst Zundel

_Richard Butler

_Willis A. Carto

_Mark Weber The publication includes appendixes on Far-Right Extremists on the Internet, Major Extreme-Right Publications, and a Glossary of Ku Klux Klan Terminology.

Danger: Extremism is available for $19.95 per copy, plus $3.90 for shipping and handling. Make check payable to ADL, and send to Dept. MRC, 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017. The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

Editors' Note: A review copy of Danger: Extremism is available from the ADL Media Relations Department.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.