BOSTON — Civil rights advocates say they’ve confirmed nearly 800 “hate groups” are still active in the US and a review of the data by FOX25 Investigates revealed 23 groups operating in New England. However, some of the leaders of those groups are fighting the designation as “hate groups” and insist they’re targets of a liberal agenda.
The Hate Map
The Southern Poverty Law Center in Birmingham, Alabama has been tracking the existence and activities of hate groups for several years. The SPLC bases an online hate map on that research, which shows the number of active groups was down slightly in 2014 from the year before.
The FBI noted more than 300 hate crimes in Massachusetts alone in 2013.
The SPLC’s “Hate Map” identified groups in Boston, Lowell, Framingham, Waltham and other surrounding areas.
“These groups are active on the grounds that they’re distributing information, they have a sizable presence online, there’s a membership base, and so on,” said Ryan Lenz with the SPLC.
The groups in the Boston area are listed as “black separatist,” “white nationalist,” and “anti-LGBT,” among others.
Researchers with the SPLC point out their list does not imply the groups are directly involved in advocating or engaging in violence, but several of the organizations contacted by FOX25 still objected to being labeled “hate groups.”
Different Causes
FOX25 Investigates contacted the creator of Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement (CCFIILE), Jim Rizoli. His group in Framingham is included on the SPLC’s “Hate Map.”
“They don’t like our stand on illegal immigration, so they obviously… have to make us look like we’re the bad guys,” said Rizoli.
Loosely organized, CCFIILE was formed by Rizoli and his brother in 2004 to oppose what Rizoli called an “influx” of unauthorized/undocumented immigrants/workers in Framingham, but he couldn’t give a firm number of people actually considered “members” of the group.
With net assets of more than $314 million, according to Charity Navigator, Rizoli and some others have accused the Southern Poverty Law Group of focusing more on fund raising than exposing civil rights abuses.
However, FOX25 Investigates also found several online videos produced by Rizoli, denying The Holocaust, likely giving the SPLC more reason to label him and his supporters a “hate group.”
“These are groups that ultimately defame Jewish people based on whatever reasons they come up with,” said Lenz. “So, the idea that this is simply a conservative versus liberal argument, I think, is a little misleading.”
Guilt by Association?
FOX25 Investigates spent weeks attempting to contact each of the groups listed on the SPLC’s latest Hate Map and found some religious groups object to being mentioned side by side with the likes of Neo-Nazi’s and the KKK.
Some of the so-called hate groups in New England include the Nation of Islam, Abiding Truth Ministries, and the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Richmond, NH
“We’re not a hate group. We’re a love group,” said Brother Andre Marie at the St. Benedict Center, home to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Marie and his group are listed under “radical traditional Catholicism” on the SPLC’s Hate Map. A 2007 report on the SPLC website described the group’s religious beliefs to include “anti-Semitism, angry opposition to homosexuality and a desire to convert others to their hardline views.”
The Diocese of Manchester told Fox 25 Investigates the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary doesn’t have any recognition by the Catholic Church in New Hampshire.
“We want to make a Catholic America,” said Marie. “Does that mean we want to convert people by force? Of course not. We don’t have the means and we don’t have the inclination to do that.”
Marie says he contacted the FBI after his organization was first listed as a hate group by the SPLC.
“And the FBI actually came here and sat in my office and the two federal agents I spoke to said, we didn't believe that stuff about you,” said Marie.
He’s among those questioning the motives behind the SPLC’s Hate Map.
“The Southern Poverty Law Center specializes in fund raising and specializes in fundraising based on ‘boogey men’ whom they create to scare their liberal benefactors into donating,” said Marie.
Hate Map Controversy
The SPLC came under fire in 2012, when Floyd Corkins II walked into the conservative Family Research Council in Washington, DC and shot a security guard. Published reports said the shooter targeted the group because of its anti-LGBT positions. The group had also been included on the SPLC’s Hate Map.
The head of the FRC slammed the SPLC for “stirring up anger” in the homosexual community.
“What happened at the Family Research Council in DC was horrific and we condemn those actions,” said Lenz. “It's important to note Floyd Corkins, in the FRC instance, was targeting that group based on his own agenda, not our agenda. He did not get the address from us. We do not list the addresses of these organizations. These are generalized locations on the hate map.”
Hate Groups vs. Hate Crimes
Other civil rights advocates, including those with the Anti-Defamation League’s New England office, say they’ve seen an increase in cases of hate crimes targeting people of color and immigrants.
But they say identifying hate groups only exposes part of the dangers to potential victims.
“The majority of hate crimes are not committed by hate groups, but they're committed by individuals,” said Robert Trestan, Regional Director for the ADL.
“Hate groups have as much of a right as anyone else to express their views, but where the line gets drawn is where people start acting out,” said Trestan. “It only takes one individual who has a message of hate, who wants to go communicate that via violence.”
Cox Media Group
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