AUGUSTA, Georgia. (WRDW / WAGT) – On the day we celebrated civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., our I-Team learned that white nationalist hate groups are increasing in Georgia and South Carolina.
Nationally, these groups grew by 55% in just three years and are on the radar of law enforcement everywhere, after some participated in the unrest in the capital.
At first glance, everything looks like good news, as recent data shows that the number of all hate groups has declined overall, but the I-Team took a closer look.
See what happens when you filter by type of hate group: we’re not the only ones noticing an increase in white nationalist groups. The GBI director says it is also on his radar.
When we look back at the riots on the Capitol, some of the images are almost too heavy to be words.
Never before has the Confederate flag flown in the capital of our country. Then, others were captured using anti-Semitic messages.
Their message was clear: they did not see people’s home as a home for everyone.
The FBI is still working to identify the responsible people and groups, but with threats that now mention Atlanta, Columbia and all other state capitals, I-Team has started working looking for hate groups that could be working here.
“I will tell you, without any hesitation, that this type of group that exists in this state, is in fact being observed and monitored by this agency,” said Dr. Vic Raynolds.
Reynolds is the director of GBI. He was unable to speak to us about the capital disturbances because the FBI and the DC police are taking care of that. But he could talk to us about monitoring hate groups in Georgia.
“Our intelligence units monitor groups like this every day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Reynolds.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a bipartisan non-profit organization that has been tracking hate groups in the United States since 1990. Currently, there are 38 hate groups in Georgia and 17 in South Carolina.
A hate map created by the SPLC shows that most exist in the Atlanta metropolitan area and northern Georgia. The SPLC has also found a 55% increase in white nationalist groups across the country since 2017.
Going deeper, the I-Team found that there are six groups that identify themselves as “white nationalists” in Georgia, plus three neo-Confederate hate groups, an anti-Semitic hate group and an anti-immigrant hate group.
We asked Dir. Reynolds if there were any in the areas of CSRA, Augusta-Richmond County, Columbia, Burke or McDuffie County.
“This is not an area that my intelligence units indicated to me as the radar on this area of concern,” he said.
While it may seem like good news, one thing to remember is the role that social media plays in radicalizing people, people who can live anywhere and travel anywhere.
“It allows groups, whatever the purpose, to organize themselves, to mobilize quickly. Is this something that comes into play? ” I asked.
“Years ago, the first thing you would do at a crime scene is to search a neighborhood. Now, what you do is collect phones. And that’s how it changed over the year, ”said Reynolds. “So, social media certainly plays an important role in groups of this nature, the way they operate, the way they work, the way they plan and certainly the way they communicate.”
“Do you think COVID played an important role in getting more people to go down that rabbit hole of the internet and become more radicalized?” I asked.
“Sure, I think so. I think it’s just the lack of everyday social contact that makes us who and what we are, you know, humans are social animals, ”Dir. Reynolds explained.
Isolation, turning into radicalization and possibly violence. But Reynolds remains hopeful that Georgians are safe and that the country will recover.
“I hope and pray every day that this country will begin the healing process and that we will have leaders, elected officials, who will put this country’s well-being ahead in everything and everything,” he said. “And I think if we have men and women who will come forward and do it, regardless of which party they belong to, we will do it and then we can start the healing process, but we certainly have a way to go here.”
Something important to note: you may have heard a lot about Qanon and Antifa and their alleged involvement in the United States Capitol disturbances. The FBI director says they are not hate groups because they are not considered organizations. They are considered ideologies.
As for hate groups, we decided not to name them. This can be seen as a kind of validation, and we don’t want to give them any additional fuel.
If you want to find out more about radicalization and how it can happen, the FBI offers an online guide to tackling violent extremism.
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