The US has seen an “explosion” in the number of extremist groups and armed militias that advocate radical anti-government doctrines and conspiracy theories, a recent report has found.
The number of active “Patriot” groups nearly tripled last year to 512 from 149 in 2008, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the activities of hate groups. Some 127 of those groups were paramilitary militias, up from 42 a year earlier.
“We saw a real explosion in militias and the larger anti-government patriot movement,” said Mark Potok, who directs the group’s Intelligence Report.
“This is a movement that sees the government as the primary enemy and is completely eaten up with all kinds of conspiracy theories,” Potok said in a video accompanying the report published on Tuesday. “They really believe the government is part of an evil scheme to do in Americans.”
The Patriot movement last rose to national prominence in the mid-1990s following the death of 76 Branch Davidians during an FBI raid on their Waco, Texas ranch. A significant amount of violence was linked to the movement, most notably the Oklahoma City bombing that left 168 people dead.
However, the groups had largely disappeared from public view after apocalyptic warnings about a “Y2K” collapse of computing systems and society at large on Jan. 1, 2000, proved unfounded.
Potok traces the recent rise in patriot groups to anger over racial changes in the population — most notably the election of the first black president — rising public debt, the bank bailout and an array of initiatives by US President Barack Obama’s administration that are seen as “socialist” or “fascist.”
“The economy being in shambles, and so many people unemployed has left a lot of people hurting, frustrated, angry and looking for a reason why they are in the place they are in,” Potok said. “There’s a great deal of anger and frustration and that is being channeled sometimes by conspiracy theories or by scapegoating certain groups into this kind of rage we are seeing all across the country.”
The concern, Potok said, is that many people appear ready to “take action” and so many mainstream politicians and pundits are adopting anti-government stances.
There has also been a sharp increase in the amount of “cross-pollination” between different sectors of the radical right, Potok said, as racist rants infuse the Patriot movement and anti-government ideas are adopted by anti-immigrant groups.
The number of “Nativist,” anti-immigrant vigilante groups also grew sharply from 173 in 2008 to 309 last year.
The total number of hate groups in the US climbed to a new high of 932 last year, the report found. That’s only up six from a year earlier largely because of an implosion of the neo-Nazi movement.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS