Hate Crimes Down, Yet Extremist Groups Gaining Strength

Like many people, I was horrified by the shootings at the Holocaust Museum. It's not only that the violence occurred just a few miles from my home, it's also the strange contradiction that, even as the number of hate crimes in the United States has declined, the number of hate groups has been quietly on the rise.

CNN reports that the number of active U.S.-based hate groups surged from 602 to 926 between 2000 and 2008, and Mary Curtis alerts us to a report from the Department of Homeland Security on the rise of extremism. But, even as the membership and activity of these groups have risen, the overall number of hate crimes in the United States has been on a slow but steady decline, lulling some (myself included) into a false sense of security.

Increasingly, hate groups are communicating more often on the Internet than in public spaces, making their presence less visible to those who aren't looking for it. Wednesday's alleged shooter, James von Brunn, operated a great deal on the Internet, but was also a visible presence in his neighborhood.

The Washington Post has an article detailing von Brunn's connections with neighbors and local groups in Virginia, including a neighbor who describes himself as a fellow "white separatist" and frets to the Post that von Brunn "makes us look bad." (As though they needed anyone's help for that.)

The link between hate groups and hate crimes is being increasingly uncoupled, to the point where we're starting to hear again the old argument that we shouldn't take thoughts into account when deciding how to prosecute crimes. But, if hate is part of the crime, then we can't ignore it. Just like we can't ignore it when it lives right next door.