Trump Cuts Funding For Groups That Counter Violent White Supremacy

No Secret: Craig Cobb openly boasts of his hope to turn tiny Leith, N.D. into a haven for white supremacists. Image by courtesy of kxmb

By Nathan Guttman May 4, 2017

The future of dozens of programs aimed at countering white nationalist extremism is unclear following a decision by the Trump administration to put their funding on hold.

According to a CBS News report more than 30 organizations that had received $10 million under Obama to combat violent extremism were told that the grants are now under review by the Trump administration.

The programs are aimed at convincing members of violent white supremacist hate groups to leave these organizations and gangs. They also provide former white supremacist with support in the process starting a new life free of hate.

Chuck Leek, a former member of one of these groups who is now active in Life After Hate, an organization providing help for those leaving hate groups, told CBS that these programs are crucial. “If one person gets their mind changed, it might be worth it, if that one person had been Dylann Roof or the Oklahoma City bomber,” he said.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO