White Supremacist, Antisemitic Propaganda Climbs In FL: Report

FLORIDA — Propaganda efforts by white supremacist groups reached a five-year high nationwide in 2022, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. In Florida, 496 separate incidents in which antisemitic, racial and otherwise hateful material was distributed were among 6,750 reported nationwide last year.

That was an increase from the 399 hate incidents reported in Florida in 2021.

The distribution of racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ fliers, stickers and banners, images, posters or graffiti increased 38 percent from 2021 nationwide, and has increased fivefold since 2018, according to the report. Antisemitic propaganda alone more than doubled in 2022, rising to 852 incidents from 352 incidents in 2021.

The ADL H.E.A.T. Map shows Hawaii was the only U.S. state that didn’t report a single incident of white supremacist propaganda last year. The highest levels of activity were in Texas, followed by Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Utah, Florida, Connecticut and Georgia.

In Florida, the reported incidents included:

• Antisemitic Incidents: 269
• White Supremacist Propaganda: 214
• White Supremacist Events: 13

A Florida man faces federal hate crime charges after authorities said he carried out a racially motivated attack Sept. 6 on a group of Black men surveying land in Cedar Key. According to a six-count indictment released by a federal grand jury in Gainesville, David Emanuel, 61, is accused of using his car to intimidate a victim because of his race and color.

Emanuel is also accused of using his car to intimidate five additional victims, authorities said. According to the indictment, all six victims were Black males who were surveying land owned by one of the victims when the attack occurred.

In June, Tampa police and the FBI investigated the distribution of antisemitic flyers in Tampa for the second time in the past month. This time, hundreds of south Tampa residents discovered the flyers on their driveways and front yards.

The flyers' authors say COVID-19 is a Jewish "agenda," and they list Jewish members of the Biden administration and pharmaceutical industries producing COVID-19 vaccines.

Hate crime laws in Florida provide protections based on race, sexual orientation and disability.

Floridians are not protected by hate crime laws if they are targeted for a crime because of gender or gender identity, and the law does not cover “association with” hate crimes for being with a targeted group, the ADL said. It also does not cover “mixed motive” hate crimes where an incident like a car accident escalates into yelling racial epithets and angry remarks about the victim.

Residents in Florida are instructed to call 911 to report a hate crime.

A hate/bias incident includes:

• Verbal abuse/slurs
• Distribution of hate literature in public spaces
• Displaying hate material on one’s own property

Propaganda campaigns, intended to frighten and harass those who see the hateful messages, are limited-risk operations by white supremacist groups that give a few people an outsized voice, the report said.

At least 50 different white supremacist groups and networks distributed propaganda in 2022, the report said. Three of them were responsible for 93 percent of the activity:

Patriot Front, whose members espouse white supremacist and neo-fascist views, was behind the majority — 80 percent — of the propaganda, a distinction the Texas-based group has held since 2019. It was active everywhere but Hawaii and Alaska, and was most active in Massachusetts, followed by Texas, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Utah.

Goyim Defense League, an antisemitic network with crossovers with white supremacist groups whose ultimate goal, the report said, is to expel Jews from the United States, was responsible for at least 492 propaganda incidents, about 58 percent of antisemitic incidents and 7 percent of incidents overall. Its propaganda was reported in 43 states, but was most active in California, followed by Florida, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Illinois and New York.

White Lives Matter, a network of white supremacists who engage in “pro-white activism” on a designated day each month, was responsible for 6 percent of propaganda incidents in 2022, and about 14 percent of antisemitic propaganda.

The group was active in 36 states, most often in Washington, followed by Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, North Carolina and Texas.

The ADL said the massive uptick in antisemitic propaganda was driven by the growth of the Goyim Defense League, but also noted the formation of other antisemitic white supremacist groups in 2022 that were responsible for 7 percent (62 percent) of the incidents nationwide: Texas-based Aryan Freedom Network, NatSoc Florida, Iowa-based Crew 319, Southern California-based Clockwork Crew (aka Crew 562), Florida Nationalists and the short-lived, New York-based Aryan National Army.

» Click here for the full report released last month.