Reprinted with permission from J.W. August, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association
Photo: Leonard Trinh, hate crimes prosecutor for the San Diego County District Attorney, during a La Mesa forum on hate crimes in 2021; photo by Miriam Raftery.
March 9, 2022 (San Diego) - The white supremacy movement has undergone profound changes, as detailed in the influential Southern Poverty Law Center‘s annual report released Wednesday.
The storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 exposed how “extremists leaders can mobilize large groups of Americans” and now has” coalesced into a political movement,” according to the SPLC
Hate is now above ground, visible everyday in the media and on the internet, as extremist groups are becoming more centralized. The SPLC explained that extremists continue to organize but now more selectively given concerns over law enforcement focusing closely on their movements.
These organizations typically insert themselves in local “hot” debates like school board meetings and the anti-masking movement. One favorite online platform for extremists in San Diego and elsewhere is Telegram, a social media and messaging app.
Leonard Trinh of the San Diego District Attorney’s Special Operations Division is familiar with the platform’s popularity and, based on what he’s observed, local extremists do use the site. But he noted that numerous hate websites are “THE platform of the moment” on social media, though individual ones move in and out of favor
On Telegram one sees “more openly violent messages” like “advocating for or valorizing acts of terror” from groups like neo-Nazis says, according to experts on extremism.
The latest report from the Alabama-based civil rights advocacy organization is drawn from information gathered by the Intelligence Project, a group of more than a dozen investigators working for the SPLC.
The researchers found the number of groups has been dropping because of changes going on in the country. That doesn’t mean, however, that fewer people are involved with extremism.
In 2018 there were 1,021 hate groups tracked by SPLC; this year that number has dropped to 733. The numbers include the infamous Klu Klux Klan, racist Skinheads, Neo-Nazis, and various anti-Muslim, anti-Immigration, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Semitic coalitions.
The report notes that some white supremacist groups have other interests. Trinh from the DA’s office said, “The issues the report raises are accurate about white supremacists moving into criminal activities more so than other hate groups.”
San Diego has a number of hate and antigovernment groups, three of which are highlighted in the SPLC’s 2021 “hate map.”
The number of antigovernment groups in the United States stood at 566 in 2020. This most recent report puts the figure lower at 488 groups. In San Diego, the Sovereignty Education and Defense Ministry is listed as an antigovernment group.
Such groups sometimes deny they are under U.S. jurisdiction. Some members deny their U.S. citizenship and will pledge their allegiance to American National Citizenship. They claim the Federal Reserve is not a legitimate institution, and in the past members have been arrested for passing bad checks, warrants and other worthless monetary instruments.
The SPLC said the sovereign citizens movement has 9,421 members and provides followers with, among other things, information on how to deal with judges and information for pastors. When Trinh was asked about this group, he said he could not comment.
Similarly, he could not comment on the other San Diego group highlighted by the SPLC reporty, Sicarii 1715. Like the Proud Boys, Sicarii is among the hate groups that “defy simple categorization” because “they embrace a broad range of bigotries,” the report said.
The Anti-Defamation League describes them as believing “white people are agents of Satan, Jews are liars and false worshipers of God, and Blacks are the true “chosen people.”
In San Marcos, Koschertified? is designated a hate group by the SPLC. The organization offers an anti-Kosher food app and claims the Kosher designation is used to rip off consumers. Followers frequently tweet content criticizing Israel and offering blatant anti-Semitic messaging.
The SPLC report cautions that more “violent rhetoric and threats” will persist throughout this year.
J.W. August is an award-winning journalist and freelance producer who has served as investigative producer for NBC 7 San Diego and as managing editor and senior investigative producer at ABC 10 San Diego. His in-depth investigations have included a wide range of topics such as rising seas, hate groups, nuclear fuel storage, stem cell clinic claims, dolphin deaths, and massage parlors as fronts for organized crime.
His 40-year career includes many honors, notably 35 Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the National Press Club award for consumer reporting, the Freedom Foundation award for coverage of hate groups along the border, the National Society of Professional Journalists’ Sunshine Award for fostering open government in San Diego, and the Investigative Reporters and Editors award for outstanding investigative reporting on illegal waste dumping.
August is past president of the Society of Professional Journalists San Diego Chapter, as well as past president of Californians Aware, a public interest group devoted to helping the press and public hold public officials accountable for their actions. He is also an adjunct professor at Point Loma Nazarene University, teaching investigative skills and long-form storytelling to aspiring future journalists.
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