Connecticut Hate Groups: Map Shows Active Racist Organizations

After a white nationalist gathering whipped up violence — resulting in the death of an anti-racism protester — in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Southern Poverty Law Center is reminding Americans that organized hate isn't a thing of the past. SPLC says nearly 1,000 organizations that meet its criteria for being designated a hate group are currently active nationwide.

In Connecticut, SPLC says five hate groups — from white supremacists to anti-Muslim and black separatist organizations — are active. The SLPC website has an interactive map showing the location of hate groups state by state.

Here's where the groups are active in Connecticut:

• ACT For America in Cheshire: Anti-Muslim
• National Socialist Movement operating statewide: Neo Nazi, National Socialist Movement
• ACT For America operating statewide: Anti-Muslim
• White Lives Matter operating statewide: White Nationalist
• New Black Panther Party for Self Defense in New Haven: Black Separatist

The SPLC's Hate Map is searchable by hate group and state.

Watch: The Many Symbols Of The Modern White Power Movement

Connecticut is no stranger to hateful acts. According to a report from WTNH-News 8, the Anti-Defamation League says there have been 10 anti-Semitic incidents since April. The state also approved legislation in June that made its hate crime laws the toughest in the country.

In Danbury and several other locations statewide, demonstrators gathered Sunday to protest the violence in Charlottesville and pay tribute to Heather Heyer, the woman killed when a vehicle plowed into a crowd of anti-racist protesters. Two Virginia state troopers were also killed in a helicopter crash near the site of the "Unite the Right" demonstration in Charlottesville.

Matthew Hale, former leader of the Creativity Movement, was convicted in 2004 of trying to solicit the murder of the federal judge who presided over a copyright trial involving his group, which was then using the name of a non-racist church. He is currently serving a 40-year-sentence at a supermax facility in Colorado.

A letter purportedly written by Hale's mother posted to multiple neo-Nazi and white supremacist websites claims Hale believes White House Chief Strategist Steven Bannon is the key to winning him a presidential pardon. The letter urges supporters to write letters to Bannon, and says, "(Hale) said that the Jews are trying to push Bannon out of the Whitehouse, attempting to make President Trump their puppet. Matt asks that you send Steve Bannon a letter explaining that Matt is an innocent man and asking him to review the trial transcript where he will find that Matt committed no crime and that no evidence was presented at his trial that he ever committed any crime."

Main image: In this April 23, 2016 photo, members of the Ku Klux Klan participate in cross and swastika burnings after a "white pride" rally in Georgia. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Shannon Antinori contributed to this report