New Bedford residents gather to combat hate speech following neo-Nazi group foray

NEW BEDFORD — Concerned residents packed a main library meeting room Thursday night to discuss the "rise of hate" three weeks after a neo-Nazi group littered a city neighborhood with recruitment fliers.

The meeting was hosted by the New Bedford Human Rights Commission and Anti-Defamation League. Speakers included an FBI agent.

One thing speaker after speaker emphasized was that instances of hate speech or hate activities should be reported to law enforcement and organizations that track this aberrant behavior.

Up to 70 fliers were tossed onto residential properties on a West End street in mid-October seeking recruits for NSC 131, which has been identified by the Anti-Defamation League as a New England-based neo-Nazi group.

A portion of the fliers stated: "We are a social club of nationalists from New England focused on building a network of likeminded men & women dedicated to defending their lands and their people. We oppose the criminal anti-American & anti-white street gangs such as MS13, Black Lives Matter, and Antifa. We are for us, by us, and against those against us. …"

The fliers were placed in plastic sandwich bags with pebbles to secure them in place where they had been thrown.

Plymouth was also the target of NSC 131 recruitment fliers in late September.

Incidents are on the rise

Peggy Shukur, ADL deputy regional director, said if these incidents seem to be on the rise, that's because they are.

Nationally, the number of white supremacist propaganda incidents tracked by the ADL have gone from 1,214 in 2018 to 6,751 in 2022.

In Massachusetts, that number has grown from 147 in 2019 to 374 in 2022, she said.Shukur asked the gathering, "How does Massachusetts rank nationally in terms of white supremacist propaganda?"

The answer: Number two.

What's more alarming is that these numbers are misleadingly low because many instances go unreported, she said.

Victims often don't report them for a variety of reasons, including fear of retaliation, embarrassment or shame over what happened or language barriers.

She said last month's flier distribution in the midst of a peaceful neighborhood was intended to intimidate and isolate people.

An important message is sent by reporting these instances to groups like the ADL as well as to law enforement, she said.

And that is, "Hate crime incidents are taken seriously and that there are mechanisms in place to support those who are targeted."

FBI is ready and available to help

Matt Ott, FBI Boston Division special agent, noted there was an FBI office with seven or eight agents in Lakeville who were ready to listen.

He said he's constantly in contact with New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira over law enforcement issues.

The FBI also has a division dedicated to Civil Rights issues.

The definition of a hate crime, he said, was "a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole are part by the individual's bias against a race, religion, disability, enthnic/national origin, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity."

A hate incident, however, is an offensive act that does not break the law, which can include distributing the offensive fliers.

Free speech is protected, even when hateful, offensive

The right to free speech is protected, even when it's hateful or offensive.

But that doesn't include threats, Ott said, that are "articulable and immediate." How threatened the victim is made to feel can be an important factor.

Political "hyperbole," however, doesn't qualify.

Non-threatening hate conduct and hate speech are protected by the First Amendment, and that includes organizing a gathering to promote hate, circulating offensive materials, and posting bigoted views online.

The Supreme Court defines a "true threat" as a "serious communication of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence against an individual or group."

However, any instances are important to report to law enforcement. "Even if you're not sure it rises to the level of a crime," Ott said.

"I encourage you all to be on the lookout." There's an FBI hotline, he said, 1-800-CALL-FBI, that can be contacted along with the local police department.

'We all have to be vigilant'

Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn said his office had a prosecutor in charge of hate crimes. While he said he hadn't observed an increase in hate crimes in the last couple years, they are "intolerable."

He added, "We all have to be vigilant."

Assistant Deputy Police Chief Scott Carola said New Bedford has been fortunate in not having a lot of this type of activity in recent years.

"But we're beginning to see something might be on the horizon," he said.

It's domestic in nature, he said, where the radicalization is taking place in the home "in front of the computer."

New Bedford NAACP President Renee Ledbetter said graffiti was left on some fencing in dark ink that had been reported to police. She said she hoped it wasn't a hate crime.

'We want people to come forward'

New Bedford Human Rights Commission Chair Martin Bentz hosted the gathering with Human Rights Commission Executive Director Marci Pina-Christian.

Bentz said the Commission, with offices in City Hall and at 181 Hillman St., was there to help people report such incidents, or mediate if possible. Their worry is that people might be afraid to come forward.

"We want people to come forward and speak to the police, speak to the District Attorney's Office, speak to the FBI."

The Rev. David Lema put it succinctly before leading the gathering in prayer, "If you see something, say something."

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Concerned New Bedford residents gather to combat hate speech