Research & Analysis

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134 Results

Incels (Involuntary celibates)

Backgrounder

Incels are heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic successA subset of the online misogynist “manosphere” that includes Pick Up Artists and Men’s Rights Activists, incels are known for their deep-seated pessimism and profound sense of grievance against womenThe incel ideology is rooted in the belief that women have too much power in the sexual/romantic sphere and ruin incels’ lives by rejecting them Incels are the most…

July 29, 2020

QAnon

Backgrounder

Key Points: QAnon is a decentralized, far-right political movement rooted in a baseless conspiracy theory that the world is controlled by the “Deep State,” a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles, and that former President Donald Trump is the only person who can defeat it. QAnon emerged on 4chan in 2017, when an anonymous poster known as “Q,” believed by Qanon followers to be a team of U.S. government and military insiders, began posting cryptic messages online…

May 04, 2020

The Base

Backgrounder

The Base is a small militant neo-Nazi organization that emerged mid-2018 and is primarily active in the U.S. The group members portray themselves as vigilante soldiers defending the “European race” against a broken “system” that has been infected by Jewish values. The Base embraces Hitlerian ideology coupled with a mission to prepare for an impending race war. The group espouses nihilistic and accelerationist rhetoric— an ideology…

January 16, 2020

Feuerkrieg Division (FKD)

Backgrounder

Feuerkrieg Division (FKD) Key Points A small international neo-Nazi group that advocates for a race war and holds some of the white supremacist movement’s most extreme views. Feuerkrieg Division, or FKD, calls for violence against their perceived enemies and destruction of “the system,” or society at large, which they believe is controlled by the Jews. Established in late 2018, FKD is an international organization with about 30 members. FKD has European…

October 07, 2019

Atomwaffen Division (AWD)/ National Socialist Order (NSO)

Backgrounder

Update: On January 11, 2022, Kaleb Cole was sentenced to 7 years in prison after being found guilty of intimidation in September of 2021. Cole and three other individuals delivered threatening messages to residents of Western Washington, including members of the Jewish community and employees of the Anti-Defamation League. The trial itself lasted 2 days with the Jury needing only 90 minutes to convict Cole of 5 counts including conspiracy, mailing threatening communications and…

April 29, 2020

Proud Boys

Backgrounder

Key PointsThe Proud Boys are a right-wing extremist group with a history of using violence, targeted harassment and intimidation to achieve their political goals and combat perceived enemies like “antifa” and others.The group serves as a tent for misogynistic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies and other forms of hate – including antisemitism and white supremacy – that oppose progressivism, feminism, multiculturalism and “woke” ideology…

November 02, 2018

Alt Right: A Primer on the New White Supremacy

Backgrounder

The Alt Right Alt right, short for “alternative right,” is a repackaging of white supremacy by extremists seeking to mainstream their ideology. The term emerged in 2010 and started to gain widespread traction in 2016. People who identify with the alt right regard mainstream or traditional conservatives as weak and impotent, largely because they do not adequately support white racial…

June 18, 2020

New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA)

Backgrounder

Key Points New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA) is a small, New Jersey-based white supremacist group. NJEHA espouses racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance under the guise of “saving” white European peoples from purported imminent extinction. NJEHA spreads their hateful propaganda online and by distributing fliers in central New Jersey. NJEHA has organized and participated in white supremacist rallies and demonstrations. Background Created in…

December 20, 2018

Shield Wall Network (SWN)

Backgrounder

Shield Wall Network (SWN) is a small white supremacist group based in Mountain View, Arkansas, with chapters in Tennessee and West Virginia. SWN promotes racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Members organize white supremacist rallies and conferences, and attend events organized by other white supremacist groups. SWN’s primary goal is to build a white ethno-state. Overview The Shield Wall Network (SWN) is a white supremacist group, led by Billy Roper, whose goal is to build a…

September 17, 2018

How Hate Groups Form

Backgrounder

There are hundreds of white supremacist groups in the United States, from Ku Klux Klan organizations to racist skinhead gangs. Most white supremacists don’t actually belong to organized groups, but hate groups provide white supremacists with most of the propaganda, ideology and motivation to act for the whole movement, and are highly visible examples of America’s white supremacy problem. So how do these hate groups form? The answer to that question isn’t as…

May 31, 2018

Daily Stormer Book Clubs (SBC)

Backgrounder

Update: The small, local crews of young white men who followed and supported Andrew Anglin and his neo-Nazi website, were responsible for 82 propaganda distributions in 2019 and 80 in 2018 but are currently inactive. Daily Stormer contributor Robert Warren Ray, aka Azzmador, remains on the lam from felony charges related to his alleged use of pepper spray on counter protesters during the tiki torch-lit march through the University of Virginia campus the night before UTR. In September…

April 24, 2018

League of the South (LoS)

Backgrounder

Key Points: The League of the South (LoS) is a white supremacist group that advocates for southern secession and an independent, white-dominated South. The LoS espouses racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. It organizes white supremacist rallies, conferences and flash demonstrations, and attends events organized by other white supremacist groups. Founded in 1994, the LoS has been stagnant until recently, but is raising its public profile, holding multiple public events and quickly…

April 19, 2018

Rise Above Movement (R.A.M.)

Backgrounder

Key Points R.A.M. (Rise Above Movement) is a white supremacist group based in Southern California whose members believe they are fighting against a “modern world” corrupted by the “destructive cultural influences” of liberals, Jews, Muslims and non-white immigrants. They refer to themselves as the “premier MMA (mixed martial arts) club of the Alt-Right.” Originally based in Southern California, today their membership is mostly online, and leader…

January 22, 2018

Farrakhan: In His Own Words

Backgrounder

For more than 30 years, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), has been a notable extremist figure, railing against Jews, white people and the LGBT community. In recent years, Farrakhan has embarked on a wide-ranging campaign specifically targeting the Jewish community, a campaign that has featured some of the most hateful speeches of his tenure as head of NOI. Farrakhan has alleged that the Jewish people were responsible for the slave trade and that they conspire to control…

January 17, 2019