SACRAMENTO, California (Press Release) — A new report from ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) reveals for the first time the converging factors that are behind a growing extremist problem in the state of California, which has led to disturbing rises both in extremist group activity and violence.
“Hate in the Golden State” is the latest in a series of ADL Center on Extremism reports looking at extremism in individual states, and identifies a wide range of extremist activity, such as events, propaganda distributions, protests and – most concerningly – violent crime. This includes six extremist-related murders in 2021 and 2022 – more than any other state in the nation.
“There’s no doubt that the state of California has an extremist problem and that’s reflected in our data,” said Robert Trestan, Vice President of ADL’s Western Division, which includes California. “The state of California leads the nation in extremist murders, it is second in the country for antisemitic incidents and it has experienced hundreds of white supremacist propaganda distributions in the past few years. It is time for our local state leaders to recognize that extremism poses a growing and dangerous threat to all Californians.”
More than 40 ADL leaders from across the state will be in Sacramento today lobbying for various bills to improve safety for minority communities and prevent hate incidents. These efforts include increased funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, expanding the role of CA Collaborative and its work in Holocaust and genocide education, requiring every state and local law enforcement agency to adopt a hate crimes policy guiding officers to prevent, report, and respond to hate crimes (AB 449) and establishing a Hate Crimes Intervention Unit (AB 1079).
“California has the opportunity to serve as a model for how the rest of the country responds to the proliferation of extremism, antisemitism and hate,” said Oren Segal, Vice President of the ADL Center on Extremism. “It is imperative that elected officials identify victim-centered, data-driven solutions to protect our most vulnerable communities with resources, collaboration and leadership.”
Key findings for the state of California include:
- According to ADL’s annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, California has seen a dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents in recent years. In 2022, the number of incidents increased 41% from 2021 levels, rising from 367 to 518.
- In 2021 and 2022, ADL documented 20 white supremacist events in California, including banner drops, flash demonstrations, training events, fight nights, protests, rallies and meetings.
- In 2022, ADL documented 296 instances of white supremacist propaganda distributions across California, a 91% increase from 2021 (155). The groups responsible for the majority of incidents were Patriot Front and the Goyim Defense League (GDL).
- According to the latest FBI hate crime statistics for 2021, there were 1,765 reported hate crimes incidents in California, an increase of 33% from the 1,330 incidents recorded in 2020.
California has seen a significant increase in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, becoming the state with the country’s second-highest number of antisemitic incidents at a time when ADL tracked the highest-ever number of antisemitic incidents nationwide.
The Center on Extremism has also tracked anti-government extremist activity across the state. For example, the sovereign citizen movement remains active, hosting seminars to spread their conspiratorial, antigovernment ideas and occasionally running into legal trouble. There has also been anti-government militia activity from the self-styled California State Militia, Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers. Of note, two men associated with the Three Percenters movement were arrested in 2022 after allegedly plotting an attack on the Democratic Party’s headquarters in Sacramento.
The ADL report includes a series of recommendations of how citizens, elected officials and law enforcement can act to more comprehensively address extremism in the state. The policy recommendations include convening cross-sector stakeholders to create actionable steps to combat hate, prevent and counter domestic extremism; adopting recommendations that are part of ADL’s PROTECT Plan; holding social media platforms accountable for their role in spreading hate and misinformation online; strengthening hate crime reporting and response; and protecting civil rights and civil liberties to ensure no community experiences discrimination or bias.
Read the full Hate in the Golden State Report here.
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Preceding provided by ADL