In 2023, white supremacist propaganda incidents reached record levels nationwide, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League, and Massachusetts had the fifth highest level of white supremacist propaganda.
The ADL cites 339 incidents in the Commonwealth in 2023 — which was actually a decline from a dramatic spike in 2022, but it still makes the state one of the most active for white supremacist propaganda. Nationwide, the ADL tallied a total of 7,567 incidents nationally, a 12 percent increase over 2022 when 6,746 incidents were documented. The ADL has been tracking incidents of white supremacist propaganda since 2017, and said this was the highest number the organization has ever recorded.
Hate groups have etched and sketched racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ language and images on banners hanging over highway overpasses, on fliers, stickers, graffiti, posters, and have used laser projections on buildings to promote their messages.
Most of the propaganda attacks, according to ADL researchers, came from a handful of far-right groups, including the neo-Nazi Patriot Front and Nationalist Social Club, better known by its acronym, NSC-131. In Massachusetts some of the hate speech is also attributed to the Aryan Circle, a prison gang with strong connections on the streets.
Another group, the so-called Goyim Defense League, was responsible for a slew of anti-Semitic and homophobic propaganda written on post cards that were mailed to the homes and offices of public officials and Jewish residents around the country. The group’s members in recent months have disrupted local town hall meetings in Framingham and Worcester with racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic attacks.
Police in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, believe the GDL was also responsible for a targeted campaign of intimidation of residents, who woke one morning last summer to find ziplocked bags on their steps filled with rice and anti-Semitic messages.
ADL researchers say messages of hate pushed by the GDL and other organized bigots accelerated following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October and the ensuing Israeli military assault on Gaza.
ADL said some of the phrases used by white supremacists to try win support for their cause included “Jews aren’t worth dying for” and “End Jewish Terror.”
But an antisemitism expert with the Southern Poverty Law Center— who asked to not be named because of threats to their personal safety — said white supremacist groups used the Hamas attack as a pretext to advance their agenda.
“I can assure you the Goyim Defense League doesn't give a damn about Palestinians. What they do give a damn about is getting people on their side against Jews. So that disingenuous use of 'Free Palestine,' is another method. I guess you would call it racist marketing.”
Last year there was a 30 percent increase in specifically anti-Semitic propaganda over the year before, according to the ADL data.
ADL warns that the intensified campaigns of hatred being waged by white supremacists allow them to maximize media interest and generate online attention, while limiting their risks to arrests and public blowback.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy told GBH News that these groups are well aware of their First Amendment Rights, as is the government.
“We’re keeping abreast of public pronouncements they make of when they're coming into our community,” Levy said, but, “we are very mindful of our jurisdiction, and we are not policing ideas and thought. And we don't start investigations because of what people think. We conduct investigations because of what people do.”
Levy said his office keeps a close eye on hate groups. In July 2022, red, white, and blue uniformed members of the Patriot Front staged a bold march through downtown Boston that caught law enforcement officials by surprise. The Texas-based group was the most active in the state, according to the ADL, and was responsible for the vast majority of propaganda distributions nationwide.
ADL-New England interim director Rabbi Ron Fish said the fact that Massachusetts is ranked number five in the nation in this kind of activity is “of itself deeply, deeply, significant concern.”
Fish said white supremacist propaganda in Massachusetts is being fueled in part by rising mainstream anti-immigrant bias. Last summer, Gov. Maura Healey declared Massachusetts is facing a state of emergency because migrants are arriving in such great numbers that the state’s emergency shelter system is overwhelmed. That has generated a lot of public consternation and complaint.
“And what we find is that the more vulnerable, the more exposed any particular community is, the more kind of a ripe target they are for haters," Fish said. "And there's nobody that's more exposed, more vulnerable than migrants right now.”
