Jewish Center Shooting Is Latest in Hate Group Surge, Watchdog Says
Hate groups have doubled since the millennium, according to watchdog.
April 14, 2014— -- Frazier Glenn Cross, the man who allegedly went on a shooting rampage outside two Jewish community centers in Kansas is a reminder that homegrown hate groups continue to rear their ugly heads, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“Racist killers are hiding among us in plain sight” Heidi Belrich, the Intelligence Project Director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, wrote in an article on Sunday after Cross, 73, was arrested for a shooting rampage in Overland Park that killed three people.
Cross is also known as Frazier Glenn Miller, according to police in Overland Park, and has long been on the radar of anti-hate groups, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Jewish Center Shooting Suspect Recorded Yelling 'Heil Hitler' During Arrest
The Ku Klux Klan, with their white hoods and titles of “dragon” and “grand wizard,” are thought to be symbols of the past, but hate groups have lately seen a resurgence, with their numbers doubling since the millennium, Belrich told ABCNews.com.
"Partnered with that, we’ve also seen a rise in the number of domestic terrorism incidents," Belrich said.
Nearly 100 people have been killed in the past five years by active users of a prominent racist website, Stormfront.org, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which said it plans to release details of its two-year study in the near future.
While many of these hate groups have found hubs online for recruiting and sharing their agendas, at least three reported examples in the past month show how their mobilization tactics have invaded suburban neighborhoods.
In DeLand, Fla., a mother reported finding a bag filled with candy along with a KKK flier in the front yard of her home, according to ABC News' Orlando affiliate WFTV.
Seven hundred miles away in Eunice, Fla., "Uncle Sam" style posters showing a hooded Klansman and the slogan, “The KKK Wants You” were passed out in a predominantly black neighborhood, ABC News’ New Orleans affiliate WGNO reported.
"The law abiding citizens of your community can sleep in peace knowing the klan is awake!" the flyers read. They also included a website and a "24/7" hotline.
At a popular shopping center in Orland Park, Ill., Nazi and Ku Klux Klan flyers were left in the parking lot, the Chicago Tribune reported.
There have been at least eight reports of KKK and Nazi pamphlets being seen or passed out in the town since January 2012, according to police records obtained by the newspaper.
"It’s definitely true that a particular klan group has been aggressively recruiting lately. That group has been flyering like mad men lately," Belrich said, referring to a group known as the Loyal White Knights.
Witnesses said Cross, 73, yelled a Nazi salute after the shooting Sunday in Overland Park, according to police. The man who is reported to be a former "Grand Dragon" of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan then drove to a nearby Jewish assisted-living facility, police said, where he allegedly shot another victim before surrendering.
The alleged shooter served three years in federal prison on weapons and threatening communications charges. As part of a plea bargain, Miller testified against other KKK members at a 1988 sedition trial.
