DOMESTIC TERRORISTS GROWING IN U.S.

Hate groups show

dramatic increase

BY TONEY ATKINS

For The Florida Courier

While the attention of U.S. citizens since Sept. 11, 2001, has been on terrorist groups abroad who may pose a destructive threat to the country, the number of potential domestic terrorists -- members of anti-government hate groups who live in this nation -- has been growing dramatically.

Reporting in the news media about these groups has been minimal, with publishers of heads of newspapers or TV networks saying such things as, "We don't want to give publicity to hate organizations because that's what they want," or -- and this is a literal quote from one journalist: "Ignore them and they'll eventually go away."

Neither excuse is realistic, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). In fact, some sources have told the Florida Courier that the greatest threat to life as U.S. citizens know it may come from within the country's borders.

Just last week, the center reported that a rise in independent skinhead crews may bring a "new era of violence."

Meanwhile, CNN reported this week that "gangs are not just L.A.'s problem any more -- it's a nationwide crisis. They've killed thousands, and keep recruiting thousands more."
Fueled by belligerent tactics and publicity stunts, the number of hate groups operating in the United States rose from 762 in 2004 to 803 last year, capping an increase of fully 33 percent over the five years since 2000, Mark Potok reported earlier this year in the SPLC's monthly Intelligence Report.

Trends parallel an alarming resurgence in skinhead activity nationwide, which continues to intensify, according to the October SPLC report.  At the beginning of 2002, there were 18 skinhead crews active in the United States, most of them under the control of Hammerskin Nation. That count has now more than tripled to 59 active crews, only six of which belong to Hammerskin Nation.

"As the power of the Hammerskins has waned, the skinhead scene has entered a free-for-all phase, with new and unaffiliated local, state, and regional crews proliferating rapidly. More and more of these newcomers subscribe to the ultra-violent ethos and disorganized crime profiteering of a chaotic band of Midwest-based gangster skins known as the Vinlanders," the new report says. 

While there's no skinhead census, and no official statistics on skinhead-specific crime, police on the street that specialize in tracking skins say the facts are clear. "Skinhead activity has easily doubled in the last couple of years, and the Vinlander influence is huge," said Matt Browning, a detective with the Mesa, Ariz., police department who has investigated white power gangs in his region and their nationwide connections for 10 years, including two years undercover. "They're more violent, they're more technically savvy than before in terms of using the Internet to organize, and, while they're still motivated by race and politics, it's also about money now."

Gary Davidson, public relations officer for the Volusia County Sheriff's Department in Florida, told the Florida Courier that there is presently little to no gang activity of any kind in that county and hate groups, such as the skinheads and the Ku Klux Klan, are practically invisible. However, lawmen are constantly on the lookout for any activity on the part of any white supremacist or other hate groups.

The 50 hate groups scattered across Florida include racist skinheads, neo-Nazis, neo-Confederate, the KKK, groups with a Christian identity and Black Separatists, the SPLC says.

Identified hate crimes have been few this year, according to SPLC investigative reports. In May, Connor T. Ranieri, 18, was charged with criminal mischief for allegedly drawing swastikas on a car and a bathroom wall at a Boca Raton. Also in May, racial epithets were scrawled on the walls of a Tampa church. In January, a dead raccoon hanging from a noose and a racist note were found on the porch of a Methodist church with a predominantly Black congregation in Floral City. Also in January, a cross with a racist message on it was burned in a biracial couple's yard in Osteen.

About the rising nationwide skinhead problem, the SPLC reported that from their very beginning, the Outlaw Hammerskins represented a new breed of racist skinhead. They avowed white power, yet listened to Black gangsta rap. They had neo-Nazi tattoos, yet dripped with gold chains. They wore Doc Martens, but also gold teeth. They formed close ties with the Hell's Angels, working security at the outlaw biker gang's events (the father of Jeremy Maske, one of the founding Outlaw skinheads, was the president of the Indiana chapter of the Hell's Angels at the time).

Within a few months, the Outlaw Hammerskins had chapters across Indiana and Wisconsin, the SPLC reported. Their creed was "take it to the extreme." If another skinhead crew mocked them for being "whiggers" (white "niggers"), Outlaw Hammerskins would beat them down. If attacked with fists and feet, Outlaw Hammerskins would retaliate with bats and knives. If a rival pulled a knife, an Outlaw Hammerskin pulled a gun.

The expansion of hate groups last year, documented by the Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, seemed to be helped along by aggressive maneuvers that landed them on front pages and in national news broadcasts.

The National Socialist Movement, for instance, repeatedly made national news with provocative attempts to march through Black, inner-city neighborhoods. Other groups rallied with increasing fervor and frequency, and even undertook sure-to-infuriate campaigns like "Operation Schoolyard," an attempt in the 2004-2005 school year to distribute 100,000 free racist music CDs to schoolchildren. One anti-gay group, the Westboro Baptist Church, went so far as to picket the funerals of soldiers, saying God was punishing America for tolerating homosexuality.

There were many other reasons for the continuing rise as well. Hispanic immigration, in particular, may have been the single most important factor in recent years, fueling a national debate and giving hate groups an issue with real resonance, the SPLC reported. The war in Iraq, seen by many hate groups as a struggle America was forced into by Jews, was another. Racist music and concerts continued to attract new young people into the movement. A growing Internet presence also helped groups' propaganda to flourish; there were 524 hate sites counted in 2005, up 12 percent from 468 in 2004.

"Despite a large number of arrests and the collapse of several leading neo-Nazi groups, the movement continues to grow," said Joe Roy, chief investigator of the Intelligence Project. "It's a Hydra with a thousand different heads."

Meanwhile, while many don't see gangs as hate groups, the mostly youthful members often strike fear into the hearts of residents of communities where hateful gang violence has grown.

The police's definition of a gang is "a group of individuals, juvenile and or adult, who associate on a continuous basis, form an allegiance for a common purpose, and are involved in delinquent or criminal activity."

This definition is simple and functional, according to Rita Gutierrez, founder and coordinator of  Parents in Crisis. The definition allows police departments to take proactive law enforcement action before the gang gets an organized structure. The gang may range from a loose knit group of individuals who hang around together and commit crimes together, to a formal organization with a leader or ruling council, gang colors, gang identifiers and a gang name, Gutierrez says on her web site.

An example of the growth of gangs and gang wars across the land can be found in Dalton, Ga., which touts itself as "the Carpet Capital of the World." The city was relatively peaceful until the mid-90s, when Hispanics, many of whom were illegal immigrants, moved into Dalton and, according to several sources, caused the loss of jobs for many Whites and Blacks because the newcomers would work for much lower wages.

Gangs,  unheard of in north Georgia until then, formed, especially in Black and Hispanic segments of the community, and disrupted the usual peace with violent clashes that challenged lawmen and frightened citizens, one police officer, demanding anonymity, told the Florida Courier.

"Hate and terror come in all fashions, forms and colors, and it doesn't seem now that there's any end in sight," he said. "The world is changing and not for the better, and it's happening right here in the USA."

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton told Larry King on CNN Monday night: "(Gang crime is) nationwide.... It accounts for 60 percent of our murders in Los Angeles and a significant part of our violent crime.
"But, a lot of it also is the issue of just young people, a new generation of young people who are more violent than their predecessors, less under control, and we have a new wave of violence coming in this country and we need to wake up to it," Bratton said.

 -- The Southern Poverty Law Center assisted in the preparation of this report.

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