More Than 3,000 Incidents Of Extremism In 2018, Seen In ADL’s Interactive Map

Image by Getty Images
Nearly a year after the violent “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, the Anti-Defamation League launched an interactive map that details extremist and anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S., the organization announced Thursday.
Hovering above the ADL H.E.A.T. (Hate, Extremism, Anti-Semitism, Terrorism) Map, which is black and features color-code dots over a white-outlined map of the U.S., is a statistic: There were 3,023 incidents of extremism or anti-Semitism in the country in 2017 and 2018. The dots represent extremist activities, such as extremist-related murders, terrorist plots and attacks, anti-Semitic incidents and white supremacist propaganda on and off campus.
Inspired by the tragic Charlottesville rally — where a neo-Nazi allegedly plowed his Dodge Charger into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring others — the ADL included a report evaluating how the white supremacist movement — and the alt-right in particular — has changed in a year. The findings include how it has increased on- and off-campus propaganda in the past year. During the 2017-18 school year, there were 292 cases reported — a 77% increase from the 2016-2017 school year.
Fitting neatly into the data is Patrick Little, a neo-Nazi former Senate candidate who embarked on a cross-country tour he calls “Name The Jew,” where he spews anti-Semitic propaganda at passers-by — including at Brown University.
The map also comes at a time when nine men running for office hold ties to white supremacists and Nazis.
“It’s important to remember that extremist activity is not just confined to a historic town in Virginia,” said ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt, “but rather an issue faced by communities every day across the country.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher