PHILADELPHIA _ Hate groups increased in the country last year "as the radical right was energized by the candidacy of Donald Trump," according to the annual Year in Hate and Extremism report released Wednesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The nonprofit SPLC, based in Montgomery, Ala., found that nationwide, active hate groups rose to 917 in 2016, up from 892 in 2015, and an increase from 784 in 2014. The most dramatic growth was the near-tripling of anti-Muslim hate groups _ from 34 in 2015 to 101 last year, the SPLC found.
"Trump's election has been absolutely electrifying to the radical right," Mark Potok, senior fellow and editor of the SPLC's 2017 Spring Intelligence Report issue, said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters.
The SPLC said it documented 867 bias-related incidents, including more than 300 that targeted immigrants or Muslims, in the first 10 days after the presidential election.
Pennsylvania had the fifth-highest number of hate groups after California (with 79), Florida (63), Texas (55) and New York (47), the SPLC found.
Potok said four groups, including the Daily Stormer, grew rapidly or were created during Trump's campaign. Two of the other groups, American Vanguard and the Right Stuff, were listed as white nationalist groups operating statewide in Pennsylvania. The fourth group was California-based Identity Evropa.
The SPLC said the number of active hate groups found nationwide in 2016 was 101 shy of the all-time record set in 2011, but still high by historic standards. The overall number of hate groups likely understates the real level of organized hatred in America, the nonprofit said, as a growing number of extremists operate mainly online and are not formally affiliated with hate groups.
Potok said the SPLC listed a hate group as being active if it had on-the-ground activity, which could involve holding rallies, committing crimes, spreading leaflets, or going out and recruiting new members.
