39 Hate Groups Are Active In Virginia

VIRGINIA — The Commonwealth is home to 39 radical groups that spew hate – an increase of two from one year ago. Among them are Neo-Nazis, black and white nationalists and groups whose members are anti-Muslim, anti-LGBT or which to promote the Confederacy.

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.

The groups located in Virginia are:

• Act For America, anti-Muslim, chapters in Leesburg and Virginia Beach
• Altright Corporation, white nationlist, Alexandria
• American Immigration Control Foundation/Americans for Immigration Control, anti-immigrant, Monterey
• American Renaissance/New Century Foundation, white nationalist, Oakton
• Asatru Folk Assembly, general hate, statewide
• Atomwaffen Division, neo-Nazi, statewide
• Blood and Honour Social Club, racist skinhead, statewide
• Blood and Honour USA, racist skinhead, statewide
• Christian Action Network, antim-Muslim, Forest
• Confederate Hammerskins, racist skinhead, statewide
• Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, statewide
• The Daily Stormer, neo-Nazis, statwide
• The Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation, white nationalist, Vienna
• Identity Dixie, neo-Confederate, statewide
• Identity Evropa, white nationalists, statewide
• IHS Press, radical traditional Catholicism, Norfolk
• In the Spirit of Chartres Committee, radical traditional Catholicism, Carrollton
• Israel United In Christ, black nationalist, Hampton
• Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, black nationalist, Richmond
• Israelites Saints of Christ, black nationalist, Richmond
• League of the South, neo-Confederate, Danville
• Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klux, KKK, statewide
• Nation of Islam, black nationalist, chapters in Richmond and Norfolk
• Patriot Front, white nationalist, statewide
• Proenglish, anti-immigration, Arlington
• Public Advocate of the United States, anti-LGBT, Merrifield
• Rebel Brigade Knights True Invisible Empire, Ku Klux Klan, Martinsville
• Red Ice, white nationalist, Harrisonburg
• The Right Stuff, white nationalist, statewide
• Traditionalist Worker Party, neo-Nazi, statewide
• Tyr 1 Security, white nationalist, Alexandria
• United Kingdom of Israel Congregation, black nationalist, Hampton
• Unity and Security for America, white nationalist, Charlottesville
• Vare Foundation, white nationalist, Warrenton
• Virginia Christian Alliance, anti-Muslim, Henrico
• Washington Summit Publishers, white nationalist, Alexandria
• Wolves of Vinland, general hate, Lynchburg

Though the Southern Poverty Law Center only named 21 groups, it counts seven more that operate statewide.

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 national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report