When details began emerging about the Oak Creek, Wis. massacre, reports indicated that the suspected shooter, Wade Michael Page, was a white supremacist and had played in a neo-Nazi band called “End Apathy.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, had been keeping tabs on Page since 2000, when he reportedly tried to purchase products from another well-known hate group called the National Alliance.
Though there had been questionable claims about neo-Nazis in Greenpoint, Sunday’s incident made us wonder: Are these kinds of groups — be they neo-Nazis or anti-Sikh or anti-Muslim, etc. — in New York?
So we checked with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which furnished the Hate Map above, and found that the organization had tabulated 37 such groups in the Empire State.
(Our neighbors’ numbers, if you’re wondering: New Jersey has 47. Meanwhile, Connecticut has four; Massachusetts has 10; Pennsylvania has 34; and Vermont has one.)
Their extensive listing indicates that there are many hate groups in our city, including:
–9/11 Christian Center at Ground Zero (anti-Muslim)
–American Third Position (White nationalist)
–Atlas Shrugs (anti-Muslim)
–Castle Hill Publishers (Holocaust Denial)
–Council of Conservative Citizens (White Nationalist)
–Cultural Studies Press (General Hate)
–Freedom Defense Initiative (Anti-Muslim)
–H.L. Mencken Club (White Nationalist, Brooklyn)
–Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (Black Separatist)
–Jewish Political Action Committe (Anti-Gay, Brooklyn)
–Jewish Task Force (General Hate, Fresh Meadows)
–Nation of Islam (Black Separatist, Manhattan and Brooklyn)
–National Black Foot Soldier Network (Black Separatist)
–National Socialist Movement (Neo-Nazi, Long Island, Upstate, and Downstate)
–NPI TV (White Nationalist, Brooklyn)
–Pioneer Fund (White Nationalist)
–Stop the Islamization of America (Anti-Muslim)
–Sultan Knish Blog (Anti-Muslim)
–The American Defense League (Anti-Muslim)
–Tony Alamo Christian Ministries (General Hate)
As we had mentioned before, the New York Police Department has decided to bolster security in the Sikh community following the temple shooting.
Generally speaking,hate crimes against Sikhs have increased since 9-11, as many confuse the religion’s practitioners with Muslim extremists.
There have been at least 700 hate crimes against Sikhs since 2001, according toUSAToday.
New York Dem Rep. Joseph Crowley recently sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder in April, demanding that federal law enforcement authorities track hate crimes committed against Sikhs, as two murders, a temple vandalization, and a brutal beating took place within the last year.
This article first appeared in Village Voice
Follow Victoria Bekiempis @vicbekiempis.