Communist
7th March 2010, 02:31
.
US Facing Surge In Rightwing
Extremists And Militias
Civil rights report shows 250% rise in
'patriot' groups Economy and media conspiracy
theories fuel growth (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/04/us-surge-rightwing-extremist-groups)
By Chris McGreal
Guardian (UK)
March 2010
A report by the Southern Poverty Law Centre says that
the rapid increase in rightwing extremist groups is a
partly down to government conspiracy theories in the
mass media. Photograph: Mike Mergen/AP
The US is facing a surge in anti-government extremist
groups and armed militias, driven by deepening
hostility on the right to Barack Obama, anger over the
economy, and the increasing propagation of conspiracy
theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre, the US's most
prominent civil rights group focused on hate
organisations, said in a report that extremist
"patriot" groups "came roaring back to life" last year
as their number jumped nearly 250% to more than 500
with deepening ties to conservative mainstream
politics.
The SPLC report, called Rage on the Right, said the
rise in extremist groups was "a cause for grave
concern" given their propensity to use violence during
their heyday in the 90s, most notably with the Oklahoma
City bombing that killed 168 people. It added that the
issues driving support for such groups were
increasingly populist and that "signs of growing
radicalisation are everywhere".
"Patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the
changing demographics of the country, the soaring
public debt, the troubled economy and an array of
initiatives by President Obama that have been branded
"socialist" or even "fascist" by his political
opponents," the report said.
"Already there are signs of . violence emanating from
the radical right. Since the installation of Barack
Obama, rightwing extremists have murdered six law
enforcement officers. Racist skinheads and others have
been arrested in alleged plots to assassinate the
nation's first black president. One man from Brockton,
Massachusetts - who told police he had learned on white
supremacist websites that a genocide was under way
against whites - is charged with murdering two black
people and planning to kill as many Jews as possible on
the day after Obama's inauguration. Most recently, a
rash of individuals with anti-government, survivalist
or racist views have been arrested in a series of bomb
cases."
The report says the patriot movement has "made
significant inroads into the conservative political
scene" in part driven by a growing view of the US
administration "as part of a plot to impose 'one-world
government' on liberty-loving Americans".
"The Tea Parties and similar groups that have sprung up
in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist
groups, but they are shot through with rich veins of
radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism," the
report says.
The SPLC notes that the rise comes as part of a
deepening disillusionment with government in which just
one quarter of Americans think government can be
trusted. It said that a recent poll found that the
anti-tax Tea Party movement is viewed in more positive
terms than the Democratic or Republican parties.
"The signs of growing radicalisation are everywhere.
Armed men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs
suggesting that the 'tree of liberty' needs to be
'watered' with 'the blood of tyrants'. The Conservative
Political Action Conference held this February was co-
sponsored by groups like the John Birch Society, which
believes President Eisenhower was a communist agent,
and Oath Keepers, a patriot outfit formed last year
that suggests, in thinly veiled language, that the
government has secret plans to declare martial law and
intern patriotic Americans in concentration camps," the
SPLC said.
The report says that, unlike during the 1990s, the
patriot movement's core ideas are more widely
propagated and accepted by prominent politicians and
some in the mass media, such as the Fox News presenter
Glenn Beck.
"As the movement has exploded, so has the reach of its
ideas, aided and abetted by commentators and
politicians in the ostensible mainstream," said the
report. "Beck, for instance, reinvigorated a key
patriot conspiracy theory - the charge that the federal
emergency management agency is secretly running
concentration camps - before finally 'debunking' it."
How far such language is now part of the mainstream
political discourse was confirmed by Politico today,
which reported that it had obtained a Republican
national committee document detailing plans to raise
election funds with "an aggressive campaign
capitalising on 'fear' of President Barack Obama" and a
promise to "save the country from trending toward
socialism".
In the presentation, the administration is portrayed as
"the Evil Empire", and Obama as the Joker in Batman.
Patriot groups and militias are planning a march on
Washington next month ostensibly in defence of the
right to carry guns.
.
US Facing Surge In Rightwing
Extremists And Militias
Civil rights report shows 250% rise in
'patriot' groups Economy and media conspiracy
theories fuel growth (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/04/us-surge-rightwing-extremist-groups)
By Chris McGreal
Guardian (UK)
March 2010
A report by the Southern Poverty Law Centre says that
the rapid increase in rightwing extremist groups is a
partly down to government conspiracy theories in the
mass media. Photograph: Mike Mergen/AP
The US is facing a surge in anti-government extremist
groups and armed militias, driven by deepening
hostility on the right to Barack Obama, anger over the
economy, and the increasing propagation of conspiracy
theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre, the US's most
prominent civil rights group focused on hate
organisations, said in a report that extremist
"patriot" groups "came roaring back to life" last year
as their number jumped nearly 250% to more than 500
with deepening ties to conservative mainstream
politics.
The SPLC report, called Rage on the Right, said the
rise in extremist groups was "a cause for grave
concern" given their propensity to use violence during
their heyday in the 90s, most notably with the Oklahoma
City bombing that killed 168 people. It added that the
issues driving support for such groups were
increasingly populist and that "signs of growing
radicalisation are everywhere".
"Patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the
changing demographics of the country, the soaring
public debt, the troubled economy and an array of
initiatives by President Obama that have been branded
"socialist" or even "fascist" by his political
opponents," the report said.
"Already there are signs of . violence emanating from
the radical right. Since the installation of Barack
Obama, rightwing extremists have murdered six law
enforcement officers. Racist skinheads and others have
been arrested in alleged plots to assassinate the
nation's first black president. One man from Brockton,
Massachusetts - who told police he had learned on white
supremacist websites that a genocide was under way
against whites - is charged with murdering two black
people and planning to kill as many Jews as possible on
the day after Obama's inauguration. Most recently, a
rash of individuals with anti-government, survivalist
or racist views have been arrested in a series of bomb
cases."
The report says the patriot movement has "made
significant inroads into the conservative political
scene" in part driven by a growing view of the US
administration "as part of a plot to impose 'one-world
government' on liberty-loving Americans".
"The Tea Parties and similar groups that have sprung up
in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist
groups, but they are shot through with rich veins of
radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism," the
report says.
The SPLC notes that the rise comes as part of a
deepening disillusionment with government in which just
one quarter of Americans think government can be
trusted. It said that a recent poll found that the
anti-tax Tea Party movement is viewed in more positive
terms than the Democratic or Republican parties.
"The signs of growing radicalisation are everywhere.
Armed men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs
suggesting that the 'tree of liberty' needs to be
'watered' with 'the blood of tyrants'. The Conservative
Political Action Conference held this February was co-
sponsored by groups like the John Birch Society, which
believes President Eisenhower was a communist agent,
and Oath Keepers, a patriot outfit formed last year
that suggests, in thinly veiled language, that the
government has secret plans to declare martial law and
intern patriotic Americans in concentration camps," the
SPLC said.
The report says that, unlike during the 1990s, the
patriot movement's core ideas are more widely
propagated and accepted by prominent politicians and
some in the mass media, such as the Fox News presenter
Glenn Beck.
"As the movement has exploded, so has the reach of its
ideas, aided and abetted by commentators and
politicians in the ostensible mainstream," said the
report. "Beck, for instance, reinvigorated a key
patriot conspiracy theory - the charge that the federal
emergency management agency is secretly running
concentration camps - before finally 'debunking' it."
How far such language is now part of the mainstream
political discourse was confirmed by Politico today,
which reported that it had obtained a Republican
national committee document detailing plans to raise
election funds with "an aggressive campaign
capitalising on 'fear' of President Barack Obama" and a
promise to "save the country from trending toward
socialism".
In the presentation, the administration is portrayed as
"the Evil Empire", and Obama as the Joker in Batman.
Patriot groups and militias are planning a march on
Washington next month ostensibly in defence of the
right to carry guns.
.