Rhode Island saw a huge increase in white supremacist incidents last year. Who's behind it?

Rhode Island had 142 reported incidents of white supremacist propaganda last year, marking a 74% increase over 2021 and reflecting an all-time high nationwide, the Anti-Defamation League said in its annual assessment.

Nationally, the ADL recorded 6,751 incidents up 38% from 2021.

Five states, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, which comprise the ADL New England region, had an "astounding" 96% increase in recorded propaganda activity from 2021 with each state noting an increase," the ADL said.

Patriot Front and Nationalist Social Club (NSC) were the most active groups across the region, with Patriot Front responsible for 909 of the 951 incidents in New England, the ADL said.

More on extremism in RI:White extremism is on the rise in New England. Here's what's happening in Rhode Island.

White supremacist incidents in Rhode Island last year

Incidents in Rhode Island included 15 to 20 people showing a Nazi flag and disrupting a reading of "The Communist Manifesto" at a small Providence reading room in February, as well as the placing of packages with "racially charged" messages on lawns in Warwick in November.

In June, two Rhode Island men were accused of posting white nationalist recruiting flyers on utility poles in East Providence. In September, they pleaded no contest to obstructing police and were sentenced to 20 hours of community service.

In neighboring Massachusetts, the white nationalist hate group Patriot Front marched through Boston Common in July, according to the ADL. Racist and anti-Semitic banners were displayed at Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and on the Route 1 overpasses in Danvers and Saugus, Massachusetts on Sept. 11.

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Propaganda activities in New England states included gatherings by white supremacists with anti-Semitic, racist, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+ messages at local bookstores, libraries, theaters, shelters and hospitals, the ADL said.

“White supremacist propaganda has the dual and devious purpose to intimidate specific groups and lure others to join their hateful activities,” said Peggy Shukur, ADL New England interim regional director. "Too many of these groups have set New England as their home base. With deliberation and intention, they target their hate against Jewish, Black, Muslim and LGBTQ+ communities and non-white immigrants through  despicable and disruptive stunts on freeway overpasses and public events, including the St. Patrick’s Day parade."

What white supremacist groups are active in Rhode Island?

The National Social Club, also called NSC-131, is the group that disrupted a reading of "The Communist Manifesto" at the Red Ink Community Library in Providence Feb. 21, 2022. The ADL describes the National Social Club as "a neo-Nazi group with small, autonomous regional chapters in the United States and abroad," including Rhode Island.

The group pounded on windows and shouted during the reading, according to people who attended. A video taken from inside the library showed masked protesters chanting and holding at least one large red, white and black flag displaying symbols of a Nazi SS security squad.

Another group that was active in Rhode Island, the Goyim Defense League, was the main player in a "massive uptick" in anti-Semitic propaganda across the country, according to the ADL. Reported incidents of explicitly anti-Semitic propaganda more than doubled, rising from 352 incidents in 2021 to 852 in 2022.

Shukur said people can report incidents at the ADL's website, www.adl.org/reportincident.

She also delivered some encouraging news.

"In the face of ever increasing propaganda activities in the region," Shukur said, "we have witnessed communities uniting throughout New England to reject this hate."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Patriot Front, NSC-131 in Rhode Island drive white supremacist incidents