Image by getty images

White supremacists have committed about 83 percent of extremist-related murders in the United States in the last decade, according to a new Anti-Defamation League report.

The report, released Monday, also found that most of those murders were perpetrated for non-ideological reasons. In addition, a slight majority of the shootouts between extremists of any kind and police involved white supremacists, the ADL report said. The other constituencies considered extremist in the report included right-wing anti-government extremists, domestic Islamic extremists, and left-wing extremists and anarchists.

“White supremacists are alive and well and they are operating both in groups and as lone wolves,” said ADL’s national director, Abraham Foxman. “They engage in every type of ideological violence, from hate crimes to acts of terrorism, and represent one of the most serious extremist-related threats in the United States today.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

American white supremacist ideology is dominated by the fear that a growing non-white population controlled and manipulated by the Jews imperils the future of whites, according to the ADL. A 14-word slogan, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” has become a rallying call, and many white supremacists have the number tattooed on their flesh.

Far more white supremacists are unaffiliated than those who belong to specific extremist groups. The Internet has allowed like-minded supremacists to network with each other without formally belonging to a group, and some of the violent acts carried out or planned by supremacists in recent years originated in online discussions, the report noted.

White supremacist violence in America has surged since the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, but the number of white extremists has remained relatively flat, the report found.

Among white supremacists subgroups are neo-Nazis, skinheads, “traditional” white supremacists such as the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacist prison gangs and Christian Identity adherents.

Of those, only white supremacist prison gangs have been growing in numbers, according to the ADL. Organized neo-Nazi groups have experienced sharp declines since the 1990s.

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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount