2 Hate Groups Are Based In Silver Spring: Reports

SILVER SPRING, MD — After a white nationalist gathering whipped up violence — resulting in the death of an anti-racism protester — in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Southern Poverty Law Center is reminding Americans that organized hate isn't a thing of the past. The SPLC says nearly 1,000 organizations that meet its criteria for being designated a hate group are currently active nationwide.

The SPLC says there are two white nationalist groups in Silver Spring — Heritage and Destiny and the Council of Conservative Citizens.

Heritage and Destiny is a group that promotes "white supremacist or white separatist ideologies, often focusing on the alleged inferiority of non-whites," the SPLC says.

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According to the SPLC, the Council of Conservative Citizens is "the modern reincarnation of the old White Citizens Councils," which were created in the 1950-60s to fight school desegregation in the South.

The SPLC says the Council of Conservative Citizens has "evolved into a crudely white supremacist group." The group regularly criticizes what they call "race mixing" and opposes immigration of non-European and non-Western people into the U.S.

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In Maryland, a total of 18 hate groups — from white supremacists to anti-LGBTQ, anti-Muslim and black separatist organizations — are active. The SPLC's Hate Map is searchable by hate group and state.

The groups named by the center are described as: "All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics."

Pictured are members of the KKK speaking in Justice Park during a rally Saturday, July 8, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)