Report: Number of U.S. anti-government groups rises for third year
http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/08/report-number-of-u-s-anti-government-groups-rises-for-third-year/
Report: Number of U.S. anti-government groups rises for third year
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 8th, 2012
<snip>The three-year trend amounts to an "astounding" 755% growth since 2008, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center report "The Year in Hate & Extremism: The Patriot Movement Explodes."
The report attributes the growth to "superheated fears generated by economic dislocation, the changing racial makeup of America, and the prospect of four more years under a black president who many on the far right view as an enemy to their country."
Since its start in 1994, the so-called Patriot Movement has fluctuated in size based on political events - peaking in 1996 after the Oklahoma City bombing before fading to relative obscurity in 2000, according to the report. Its most recent rise can be traced to late 2008 - the start of the economy's collapse and the election of Obama as president.
"Even as most of the nation cheered the election of the first black president that November, an angry backlash developed that included several plots to murder Obama," the report says. "Many Americans, infused with populist fury over bank and auto bailouts and a feeling that they had lost their country, joined Patriot groups."