31 Hate Groups Operating In Illinois In 2018: SPLC

CHICAGO — A new interactive map shows a list of hate groups believed to be active in Illinois. The Southern Poverty Law Center released its new map this week. The updated version allows users to see more details, including which states have the most hate groups per capita and how the number of hate groups has changed over time at the state and national level.

The group identified 1,020 active hate groups operating in the country last year, a record high and a 30 percent increase over the last four years. Moreover, an estimated 40 people were killed in North America in radical right terrorist attacks last year and there were more than 1,200 incidents of hate groups passing out fliers.

Hate Crimes Up Nationwide, But Down In Illinois

In Illinois, there were 31 hate groups in all, up from 23 in 2016 but down slightly from 2017. Here are the hate groups operating out of Illinois, according to the SPLC:

• Act for America, Des Plaines
  • Anti-Muslim
• America First Committee, Lyons
  • Neo-Nazi
• American Guard, statewide
  • General hate
• American Vikings Clothing, Danville
  • Racist skinhead
• Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, Naperville
  • Anti-LGBT
• Aryan Nations Sadistic Souls MC, Canton, Wood River
  • Neo-Nazi
• Atomwaffen Division, statewide
  • Neo-Nazi
• Be Active Front USA, Chicago
  • Racist skinhead
• The Creativity Alliance, statewide
  • Neo-Nazi
• The Creativity Movement, statewide
  • Neo-Nazi
• Divine International Church of the Web, Morton
  • Christian Identity
• Euro Folk Radio, Chicago
  • Christian Identity
• Great Millstone, Chicago
  • Black Nationalist
• Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (H.O.M.E.), Downers Grove
  • Anti-LGBT
• Hostile Class Productions, Burbank
  • Hate music
• Identity Evropa, Chicago
  • White Nationalist
• Illinois Family Institute, Carol Stream
  • Anti-LGBT
• Israel United In Christ, Chicago
  • Black Nationalist
• Nation of Islam, Rockford, Chicago
  • Black Nationalist
• Lion of Judan, Jeshurian Lions, Chicago
  • Black Nationalist
• Patriot Front, statewide
  • White Nationalist
• Nationalist Socialist Movement, statewide
  • Neo-Nazi
• Soldiers of Odin, statewide
  • Anti-Muslim
• The Right Stuff, Chicago
  • White Nationalist
• The United Muwaupians Worldwide/All Eyes On Egypt, Chicago
  • Black Nationalist
• United Kingdom of Israel Congregation, Chicago
  • Black Nationalist
• White Boy Society, statewide
  • White Nationalist
• World Congress of Families/International Organization for the Family, Rockford
  • Anti-LGBT

Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project, which publishes the award-winning Intelligence Report and the Hatewatch blog, said in a release it’s become “critically important” that people understand what she called “the landscape of hate.” The number of these groups is surging in the era of President Donald Trump, who has faced fierce criticism for his anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“We hope the new, interactive map helps people recognize and better understand the extremist activity occurring in their communities and how it’s part of a larger movement,” said Beirich.

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The map allows users to filter by ideologies tracked by the organization. Some of the categories include anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim, holocaust denial, Ku Klux Klan, male supremacy, Neo-Nazi, racist skinhead and white nationalist.

The map shows that states with the most hate groups per capita tend to be concentrated in the Southeast, northern Rocky Mountains and western Great Plains regions. This includes Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas, as well as Idaho and Montana.

Meanwhile, several states in the Midwest saw the least number of hate groups per capita. Among these states were Kansas, Iowa and Wyoming.

In a video accompanying the report, the group says there were roughly 375 hate groups nationwide in 1999. That number has ballooned over the years to more than 1,000 this year. Beirich called the rise “disturbing” and said it’s no coincidence the rise coincides with Trump’s election.

“The trend is unmistakable,” she said in the video. “Trump has energized the radical right by fanning the flames of racial resentment over immigration and the country’s changing demographics.”

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.