Extremism, Anti-Semitism In Morristown: 2 Incidents In 2019

MORRISTOWN, NJ — In 2019, there were two incidents of extremism and anti-Semitism in Morristown, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The figure for 2019 increased from the three incidents reported in our city during 2018.

The occurrences in Morristown were among the 4,015 examples of extremist and anti-Semitic incidents that happened nationwide in 2019. The figure reported for 2019 is up almost 32 percent from the 3,052 incidents reported in 2018, according to the ADL.

Here is a collection of the incidents in Morristown that the non-governmental organization included in its registry:

White Supremacist Propaganda: 5/27/2019

Location: Morristown
Ideology: Right Wing (White Supremacist)
Description: American Identity Movement, an alt right group, distributed propaganda at Morristown National Historical Park.

White Supremacist Propaganda: 1/17/2019

Location: Morristown
Ideology: Right Wing (White Supremacist)
Description: Identity Evropa, an alt right group, distributed fliers that read: "European roots American greatness." They also posted stickers featuring their group logo.

The Anti-Defamation League tracks the incidents through news and media reports, government documents (including police reports), victim reports, extremist-related sources and the Center on Extremism investigations, according to a “Frequently Asked Questions” section on the ADL’s website.

The Anti-Defamation League’s interactive map includes information on incidents involving anti-Semitism, white supremacist propaganda, white supremacist events, extremist-police shootouts, terrorist plots and attacks and extremist murders.

Along with providing the first-of-its-kind interactive and customizable map detailing extremist and anti-Semitic incidents around the nation, the ADL also provides information on the annual quantity of white supremacist propaganda that gets spread throughout the country.

The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism reported 2,713 cases of circulated propaganda by white supremacist groups in 2019, compared with 1,214 cases in 2018.

Oren Segal, director of the League’s Center on Extremism, pointed to the prominence of more subtly biased rhetoric in some white supremacist material, emphasizing “patriotism.”

By emphasizing language “about empowerment, without some of the blatant racism and hatred,” Segal told the Associated Press, white supremacists are using a “tactic to try to get eyes onto their ideas in a way that’s cheap, and that brings it to a new generation of people who are learning how to even make sense out of these messages.”

The Anti-Defamation League, which was founded in 1913 to combat anti-Semitism as well as other biases, describes its mission as “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.”

You can find the complete interactive map on the ADL’s website.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.