Hate groups up in PA

The number of hate groups in the United States has grown dramatically since 2000 along with the number of hate crimes directed at Latinos, according to a study by a watchdog group.

A report called "The Year in Hate," released today by the the Southern Poverty Law Center, says the number of hate groups has mushroomed to 888 in 2007. The Alabama-based Law Center counted 844 in 2006 and 602 in 2000.

In Pennsylvania, the number of hate groups last year ballooned to 33, up about 20 percent from the 27 the SPL recorded in 2006. In New Jersey, the number remained steady at 34, said Mark Potok, an SPL spokesman.

The rise of the groups mirror the number of crimes directed at Latinos, Potok said.

According to the latest FBI statistics, 819 people were targets of anti-Latino crime in 2006, compared with 595 in 2003.

"The immigration debate has turned the climate of this country into something very nasty," Potok said. "A lot of this is due to the vile propaganda coming out of these hate groups."

Potok said it is not remarkable for hate groups to produce hate propaganda.

"If it were merely the groups in a corner by themselves it wouldn't be worrying," Potok said. "But now the propaganda is being circulated by the mainstream media."

Potok said conspiracy theories by the groups have been picked up and given validation by CNN and some national politicians.

Among the worst offenders, Potok said, are CNN's Lou Dobbs and Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa).

"The stories they're spreading are outrageous lies," Potok said.

The more outlandish tales include Mexicans bringing leprosy into the United States; a secret Mexican plot to reconquer seven states in the American Southwest; and illegal immigrants killing 12 American citizens every day.

"These are complete and utter falsehoods," Potok said. "And thanks to Dobbs and King, now they're being parroted by 300 groups."

Potok acknowledged many of the groups are small. Though it is difficult to gauge membership, Potok said they range can from three or four members up to 15,000.

In eastern Pennsylvania, the SPL lists the following as groups that encourage hate: Keystone State Skinheads with chapters in Altoona, Bethlehem, Harrisburg and Philadelphia; the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement with chapters in Bethlehem and Philadelphia; Catholic Counterpoint, a radical traditionalist Catholic group in Broomall; black separatist groups the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia; and the American National Socialist Works' Party, the Ku Klux Klan and racist group Volksfront all with a presence in the Keystone State.

In South Jersey, The SPL lists racist skinhead group the AC Skins in Atlantic City; the neo-Nazi groups National Vanguard and Creativity Movement in Jackson; hate music mail-order firm Micetrap Distribution of Maple Shade; the United Northern and Southern Knights of the KKK in Merchantville; the racist skinhead group The Northern Hammerskins in Toms River; and the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement in Vineland.