Research & Analysis

January 13, 2017 On January 9, a Reddit-user discovered a horrific image on his way to work, under his own feet.  When the man bought a pair of Polar Fox boots, he did not realize that the rubber treads on the bottom would leave swastika shaped footprints.  “There was an angle I didn’t get to see when ordering my new work boots,” ‘FRSHFSHFCKR’ wrote alongside the images of the boot soles and the track marks they left. The next day, the white…

January 11, 2017 For more than a year, white supremacists from a variety of hate groups have organized events and activities under the banner of “white lives matter.” What started as a transparent white supremacist slogan designed to respond to the Black Lives Matter movement is now used to protest a range of topics including the removal of confederate symbols from public spaces, immigration, the Anti-Defamation League, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored…

January 09, 2017 In recent years, ISIS propaganda has urged followers to use a range of weapons, from knives to guns to cars, in terror attacks. The latest issue of the group’s Rumiyah (Rome) magazine reveals a new focus: incendiary attacks with various flammable weapons. Rumiyah, which is distributed online, is a relatively new English-language propaganda magazine; it emphasizes individual attacks against Western targets. An entire section of the magazine…

January 05, 2017 Alt right and neo-Nazi blogger Andrew Anglin, who runs the white supremacist website Daily Stormer, has for several weeks threatened to stage an anti-Semitic armed march in Whitefish, Montana. Though no march permit has yet been filed with town officials, Anglin today announced a date for his purported march, January 16, calling it the “James Earl Ray Day Extravaganza.” January 16, 2017, is also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This is no coincidence. …

by: Jonathan Greenblatt December 23, 2016 Andrew Anglin, the neo-Nazi who runs The Daily Stormer, a blatantly racist and anti-Semitic website, has ratcheted up his campaign of harassment against the Jewish community in and around Whitefish, Montana, including announcing an armed march in the town by white supremacists that he has scheduled for January. Whitefish is the part-time home of Richard Spencer, a prominent spokesperson within the white supremacist alt right, and his…

December 20, 2016 Richard Spencer, the white supremacist most closely associated with the alt right, appears to be making common cause with neo-Nazis, something that did not seem likely even a few years ago. Before becoming a white nationalist, Spencer worked for the mainstream American Conservative magazine and carefully cultivated his image as a “suit and tie” racist who did not use blatantly racist language or sport racist tattoos. However, over the last month, Spencer has…

December 19, 2016 » Follow All Posts On Our Top 10 List As 2016 draws to a close, the Anti-Defamation League is counting down the major milestones we accomplished this year in the fight against hate. ADL has tracked the hateful activity of extremists for decades, but early in 2016 we were among the first to detect something different: A number of white supremacists, who identified as part of the Alt Right, were publicly voicing support for major presidential candidates…

December 16, 2016 What’s the easiest way to spot a white supremacist? The answer used to be pretty easy: You look for Klan robes or a swastika tattoo. But the recent rise of the clean-cut, besuited Richard Spencer and the alt-right has challenged these conventions, and parallels a movement within white supremacist circles to re-brand their cause – eliminating easily identifiable symbols in favor of a new, “kinder, gentler” image, an attempt to make…

December 08, 2016 On December 6, 2016, to the delight of some Texas-based white supremacists, Richard Spencer  brought his “America belongs to white men” rhetoric to the Texas A&M campus. Spencer was not on campus as a guest of the university, but rather spoke in a privately rented room rented by Preston Wiginton, a neo-Nazi and former racist skinhead. Wiginton was not the only white supremacist to attend the event; several Texas-based white…

by: Marilyn Mayo December 07, 2016 The alt right wants to reach the young people of America. To this end, some groups, as well as anonymous individuals, have posted racist fliers on campuses across the county promoting white identity and heritage. The fliers try to appeal to white college students by focusing on alleged dangers facing white Americans, including demographic changes and “white guilt.” The alt right is a loose network of people and groups that promote white…

by: Jessica Reaves December 01, 2016   It has been one year since the December 2, 2015 attack on a workplace holiday party in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 dead and 22 others seriously injured. The perpetrators, Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, had allegedly discussed their commitment to extremism in private emails, and law enforcement found copies of Inspire magazine, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's English-language propaganda magazine, at their residence. Reports…

by: Marilyn Mayo December 01, 2016 There has been a lot of debate lately about whether media outlets should use the term “alt right.” Some argue that the term whitewashes or normalizes a grouping that is, at its core, racist and anti-Semitic.  The problem is not so much with the term “alt right” but in how people define or not define it.  It is crucial that whenever the term “alt right” is used, it be defined clearly and put in the proper context. …

by: Oren Segal November 29, 2016   Update – 11/30/2016: ISIS claimed credit for the attack through its Amaq news outlet on November 29, calling Artan a “soldier” of the Islamic State. ADL has written about what it means when ISIS claims credit for attacks here. Law enforcement officials have not yet ascribed a motive to yesterday’s attack at Ohio State University but both the choice of weapons and social media posts by the alleged perpetrator, Abdul…

by: Jessica Reaves November 14, 2016 In new issues of their English-language propaganda magazines, both Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and ISIS reiterate calls for attacks against Western civilians. Although both magazines were released in the days after the election, they were likely compiled well in advance and do not address the U.S. presidential elections or results. AQAP released the 16th issue of Inspire Magazine, its flagship English-language propaganda magazine, on…

by: Jessica Reaves November 11, 2016 In the week following Donald Trump’s election, there has been a sharp spike in reports of racist and anti-Semitic graffiti and vandalism, including widespread use of swastikas and other Nazi imagery. This is a small sample of the graffiti, vandalism and harassment that has been reported since Tuesday. Racist graffiti, vandalism and harassment Signs outside a church in Silver Spring, Maryland, were defaced over the weekend of November 12…

by: Jessica Reaves November 10, 2016 Not surprisingly, an array of white supremacists, including those associated with the alt right, are celebrating Donald Trump’s win in the presidential election. These extremists are not just reveling in Trump’s victory, they feel they played a role in helping him achieve the highest office in the land. Some, believing that they have been in the vanguard of promoting white interests, are rejoicing that whites working- and middle-class whites…

by: Jessica Reaves November 10, 2016 As the world weighs in on the results of the U.S. presidential election, media groups associated with foreign terrorist organizations are adding their voices as well. Several propaganda outlets are exulting in Donald Trump’s victory, expressing hope that he will lead the U.S. toward destruction. Some hope he will force Muslims to choose extremism over a hostile West. Others have taken a more moderate stance, claiming that there is no difference…

by: Jessica Reaves November 03, 2016   A social media campaign is calling for the boycott of Chobani yogurt and targeting Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya for his support of refugees around the world. Ulukaya is a Muslim Kurd who grew up in Turkey and has built a hugely successful business that employs thousands of people in New York State and Idaho. The campaign against him reflects the twin threats of anti-immigrant bigotry and anti-Muslim extremism. In 2015, the image of a Syrian…

by: Oren Segal October 02, 2016 Approximately 25 members and supporters of the “White Lives Matter” movement protested Saturday, October 1, outside the Anti-Defamation League offices in Houston, Texas. The small group of white supremacists gathered to voice their anger at the ADL for a multitude of perceived slights including not labeling the Black Lives Matter movement a hate group. In early September, the ADL published an article describing “White Lives Matter”…