3 Hate Groups Near Reston: Report

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. SPLC says nearly 1,000 organizations that meet its criteria for being designated a hate group are currently active nationwide. And some of them are located not far from Reston.

In Virginia, SPLC says 42 hate groups — from white supremacists to anti-LGBTQ, anti-Muslim and Black separatist organizations — are active. The SPLC website has an interactive map showing the location of hate groups state by state.

Two of them are situated in Vienna and one in Oakton: "The Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation" (white nationalist) in Vienna; "Understanding the Threat" (anti-Muslim), which doesn't appear to have much of a web presence but SPLC states is located in Vienna; and "American Renaissance/New Century Foundation" (white nationalist), which is run out of the founder's home somewhere in Oakton.

The SPLC's Hate Map is searchable by hate group and state.

In the aftermath of Charlottesville, demonstrators gathered Sunday to protest the violence and pay tribute to Heather Heyer, the woman killed when a vehicle plowed into a crowd of anti-racist protesters. Two Virginia state troopers were also killed in a helicopter crash near the site of the "Unite the Right" demonstration in Charlottesville.

Image via SPLC