40 Hate Groups Are Active In North Carolina, Up From Last Year

CHARLOTTE, NC — North Carolina is home to 40 radical groups that spew hate – eight more than last year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups across the nation.

Among them are Neo-Confederates, Neo-Nazis, black and white nationalists and groups whose members are anti-Muslim. The list has been drawn up by the Southern Poverty Law Center which located the groups on an interactive map.

Across the country, 1,020 hate groups were active last year, a record high and a 30 percent increase over the past four years. The group estimates 40 people were killed in North America in radical-right terrorist attacks last year and there were more than 1,200 incidents of hate groups passing out flyers.

Some of the groups located in North Carolina include:

• Act for America, Anti-Muslim, Fayetteville
• American Guard, General Hate, statewide
• Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), Anti-Immigrant, Raleigh
• Aryan Knights of the Invisible Empire, Ku Klux Klan, statewide
• Asatru Folk Assembly, General Hate, statewide
• Atomwaffen Division, Neo-Nazi, statewide
• Beasst Productions, Hate Music, Greensboro
• Blood and Honour Social Club, Racist Skinhead, statewide
• Blood and Honour USA, Racist Skinhead, statewide
• Confederate Hammerskins, Racist Skinhead, statewide
• Crew 38, Racist Skinhead, statewide
• The Daily Stormer, Neo-Nazi, statewide
• East Coast Knights of the True Invisible Empire, Ku Klux Klan, statewide
• Great Millstone, Black Nationalist, Charlotte
• Identity Dixie, Neo-Confederate, statewide
• Identity Evropa, While Nationalist, statewide
• Israel United in Christ, Black Nationalist, Concord
• Israelite Church of God In Jesus Christ, Black Nationalist, Greensboro
• Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, Black Nationalist, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham, Greenville, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Charlotte
• Israelites Saints of Christ, Black Nationalist, statewide
• Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Pelham
• Masharah Yasharahla — Government of Israel, Black Nationalist, Raleigh
• Nation of Islam, Black Nationalist, Wilmington, Greensboro, Durham, Charlotte, Winston-Salem
• North Carolina Pastors Network, Anti-Muslim, Morganton
• Revolutionary Black Panther Party, Black Nationalist, Raleigh
• Soldiers of Odin, Anti-Muslim, statewide
• Southern Revivalist, Neo-Confederate, statewide
• The Right Stuff, White Nationalist, statewide
• The United Nuwaupians Worldwide/ All Eyes on Egipt, Black Nationalist, Charlotte

Though the Southern Poverty Law Center only named 30 groups, it counts 40 because some have multiple chapters in the state. Last year, there were 32.

Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which publishes the Hatewatch blog, said it's become "critically important" that people understand what she called "the landscape of hate."

"We hope the new, interactive map helps people recognize and better understand the extremist activity occurring in their communities and how it's part of a larger movement," said Beirich.

The map allows users to filter by ideologies tracked by the organization. Some of the categories include anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-muslim, holocaust denial, Ku Klux Klan, male supremacy, Neo-Nazi, racist skinhead and white nationalist.

It shows that states with the most hate groups per capita tend to be concentrated in the Southeast, northern Rocky Mountain regions and western Great Plains. This includes Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas, as well as Idaho and Montana.

Meanwhile, several states in the Midwest saw the least number of hate groups per capita. Among these states were Kansas, Iowa and Wyoming.

In a video accompanying the report, the group says there were roughly 375 hate groups nationwide in 1999. That number has ballooned over the years to more than 1,000 this year. Beirich called the rise "disturbing" and said it's no coincidence the rise coincides with Trump's election.

"The trend is unmistakable," she said in the video. "Trump has energized the radical right by fanning the flames of racial resentment over immigration and the country's changing demographics."

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Patch staffers Dan Hampton, Adma Nichols contributed to this report