SPLC: Radical antigovernment movement continues explosive growth

[pampango]

SPLC urges government to review resources devoted to domestic terrorism

The number of conspiracy-minded antigovernment “Patriot” groups on the American radical right reached an all-time high in 2012, the fourth consecutive year of powerful growth by a movement that is becoming increasingly militant as President Obama enters his second term and Congress debates gun control measures, according to a report issued today by the SPLC.

The SPLC found there were 1,360 Patriot groups in 2012 – an 813 percent rise since 2008, the year before Obama took office. The groups include 321 militias. These numbers far exceed the movement’s peak in the 1990s, when militias were inflamed by the 1993 Brady Bill and the 1994 assault rifle ban.

The SPLC also found that hate groups remained at a near-record level of 1,007 groups in 2012, a slight drop from the 1,018 groups documented in 2011.

The resurgence of the Patriot movement, as well as the broader radical right, has been fueled by the election of America’s first black president, the troubled economy and non-white immigration. Law enforcement officials in the last several years have uncovered numerous terrorism conspiracies born in the militia subculture – plots to spread poisonous ricin powder, to attack federal installations, and to murder federal judges and other government officials.

http://www.splcenter.org/home/splc-report-antigovernment-patriot-movement-continues-explosive-growth-poses-rising-threat-of-v

Not an unexpected development by any means, but it is good that the SPLC documents this trends.

[Smilo]

1. Fear, hate and loathing in action

or to put it another way - there is one of those people in the WH - be afeared, be very afeared.