1313 Results

Sines v. Kessler: Reckoning and Weaponization

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November 29, 2021 Photo credit: Getty On November 23, 2021, a jury returned its verdicts in the civil lawsuit against the organizers of the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. All defendants were found liable of Virginia state civil conspiracy charges, and the jury agreed to award the plaintiffs more than $25 million in damages. Jurors were unable to reach a decision on federal conspiracy charges. Sines v. Kessler, the civil suit filed by…

November 29, 2021

Anti-Israel Activists Demonize Victim of Jerusalem Terror Attack and Claim Violence Was Justified

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November 23, 2021 In the aftermath of the deadly Hamas terror attack in Jerusalem on November 21, which tragically took the life of 26-year-old Eli Kay and left four others others wounded (two civilians and two police officers), a number of groups and individuals affiliated with the anti-Israel movement intimated this blatant act of terrorism was justified or engaged in rhetoric that disparaged the victim. A common theme throughout was the instrumentalization of the allegation that Israel…

November 23, 2021

Right-Wing Extremists Cheer Rittenhouse Verdict in Predictable Fashion

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November 19, 2021 On Friday, November 19, 2021, a jury delivered a unanimous verdict in the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse: not guilty on all five counts, which included homicide and reckless endangerment. The presiding judge warned those in the courtroom against expressions of emotion, but right-wing extremists were bound by no such restrictions, and they reacted online to the ruling with praise for Rittenhouse, vitriol towards “antifa” and the left, and excitement about the…

November 19, 2021

Teen Charged in Synagogue Arson Attack; Brooklyn Antisemitic Assault Prompts $10K Reward; Michael Flynn Calls for ‘One Religion’ in US

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November 18, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 An 18-year-old college student and recent member of the Texas State Guard who is accused of setting a fire at an Austin synagogue faces a federal arson charge for the Halloween incident. The assault of a Jewish man in Brooklyn last Thursday by an unknown assailant has prompted an investigation by New York police and a reward from ADL. Michael Flynn, former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, was soundly condemned by Jewish and…

November 18, 2021

Antisemitism on Left Intensifying; French Man Convicted in Murder of Holocaust Survivor; House Resolution Introduced to Censure Rep. Gosar

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November 11, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 In a major address this week to ADL’s annual Never Is Now summit on antisemitism, CEO Jonathan Greenblatt warned that antisemitism from the left is akin to climate change, saying “slowly but surely, the temperature is rising.” A French court found a man guilty of murder in the killing of an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor in 2018, sentencing him to life in prison. House Democrats called for investigations into the posting of an…

November 11, 2021

Nation of Islam Pushes Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Message, Alongside Conspiracy Theorists

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November 08, 2021 A graphic shared on social media by the Nation of Islam warning against the COVID-19 vaccine (source: Twitter) Months before the first COVID-19 vaccine began to be distributed in the United States, the Nation of Islam (NOI) had already widely disseminated its directive that Black people refuse the vaccine. Over a year later, the NOI and its leading members have continued their unrelenting promotion of anti-vaccine messages in social media posts, print materials, sermons…

November 08, 2021

Extremists Widely Defeated at the Polls, but a Few Make Inroads

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November 05, 2021 Political prognosticators feared the 2021 off-year elections could usher in a new era of extremists in elected office. And while the worst-case scenario did not materialize, the election results appear to show an electorate that is not entirely averse to candidates with extremist (and extremist-adjacent) platforms and ideologies, signaling a potentially alarming trend ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. At least eight candidates who attended the January 6 …

November 05, 2021

Torah Desecrated at Fraternity; Fire Set at Austin Synagogue Following Antisemitic Incidents; Tucker Carlson Pushes Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theories

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November 04, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 A fraternity house at George Washington University was vandalized over the weekend, including desecration of a Torah scroll. A day after a fire was set outside a Jewish synagogue in Central Austin, more than two dozen faith leaders and clergy members from across Austin were joined by community leaders at a rally as they called for unity following a recent spate of antisemitic incidents against across the city. Fox News personality Tucker Carlson…

November 04, 2021

Tucker Carlson’s Dangerous Propaganda: The Government is Coming for You

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November 03, 2021 Tucker Carlson’s special “documentary” series, “Patriot Purge,” which aired online the first week of November, 2021, via the Fox Nation streaming service, promotes many of the false conspiracy theories Carlson promotes on his regular show on Fox News—the Biden Administration is on a “manhunt” for conservatives; the FBI played a role in the January 6 insurrection; the military wants to purge any soldier whose point of view…

November 03, 2021

In 9/11 Video, Al Qaeda Doubles Down on Enmity toward Jews and Israel

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November 02, 2021 Each year, to commemorate the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the notorious terrorist group Al Qaeda releases a video featuring one of the group’s senior leaders who typically reiterates the significance and impact of those deadly events from their warped perspective. Al Qaeda’s 2021 video, which was recently analyzed by experts in ADL’s Center on Extremism and the ADL department of International Affairs, was notable for…

November 02, 2021

Racist, Extremist, Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories Surround Coronavirus Vaccine Rollout

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December 29, 2020 Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, extremists across the ideological spectrum have used the virus as a platform for elaborate and alarming conspiracy theories. In March and April 2020, antisemitic, anti-government and Sinophobic conspiracies about the virus’s origins and “true purpose” were rampant online. In December 2020, as the COVID-19 vaccine was being shipped to frontline workers across the country, very familiar conspiracy theories took…

May 03, 2022

ADL Slams Facebook for Allowing Hate Speech to Spread on Platforms; Austin Rallies Behind Jewish Community After Three Antisemitic Incidents

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October 29, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 A third of Jewish college students say they have personally experienced antisemitism in the last year, according to a new survey conducted jointly by ADL and Hillel. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt blasted Facebook following the publication of a series of articles revealing the company's struggles to stop hate speech, human trafficking and coordinated groups that sowed discord ahead of the January 6 insurrection. Community leaders are rallying behind the…

October 29, 2021

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting, Three Years Later: Resources from ADL’s Center on Extremism

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Honoring the lives of those lost in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

October 28, 2021 Three years ago, Robert Bowers opened fire inside a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, murdering 11 people and devastating the close-knit community of Squirrel Hill. Inspired by antisemitic, anti-immigrant and white supremacist views, Bowers posted his bigoted thoughts on Gab, a site known as a haven for extremists, and then acted on his words, committing history’s deadliest assault on the American Jewish community. In the immediate wake of the attack, and in the…

October 28, 2021

Climate Activist Group Refuses to March in DC with Jewish, Zionist Groups; Two Denver Schools Targeted with Antisemitic, Racist Vandalism

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October 21, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 A local chapter of the environmentalist group Sunrise Movement said it won’t march in a voting rights rally in Washington because some of the participating groups are Zionist. A Denver high school was targeted with graffiti displaying messages of hate, antisemitism, racism and homophobia over the weekend, and a Jewish private school had a window smashed and its electricity cut off. With the third anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting…

October 21, 2021

Leaders Gather in Malmö for Forum to Tackle Antisemitism; Hack Exposes Police Officers Who Signed up to Oath Keepers

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October 15, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 International and Jewish community leaders gathered in Malmö, Sweden this week for a conference to combat antisemitism and advance Holocaust remembrance. Twitter is struggling to curtail COVID-19 misinformation and hate speech originating from the fringe social network Gab and migrating to find massive audiences on the platform, according to a new report released by ADL. A review of recently revealed membership rolls for the far-right group Oath…

October 15, 2021

For Twitter Users, Gab’s Toxic Content Is Just a Click Away

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October 11, 2021 Since 2020, Twitter has taken steps to decrease hate and disinformation on its platform, officially banning some forms of Covid-19 misinformation or purging QAnon-related handles after the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. But while Twitter’s anti-extremist policies are more effective now than they were a year ago, the platform has not addressed the ease with which users are able to drive traffic to hate and misinformation hosted on outside sites. To examine how…

October 11, 2021

Data Leak Appears to Reveal 133 Oath Keepers with Ties to U.S. Military

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October 11, 2021 On September 27, 2021, the non-profit journalist collective Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) uploaded a cache of data allegedly linked to the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia, that included logs from the group’s private chatroom on Rocketchat, its emails from January 13 to September 19, 2021, and alleged membership information for more than 38,000 individuals. A review of these membership rolls found that 133 people provided emails with the …

October 11, 2021

“White Boy Summer:” From Meme to Mobilization

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June 29, 2021 In March 2021, Chet Hanks, son of actor Tom Hanks, published a series of social media posts critiquing white men’s attire and behavior, culminating a month later with the release of his song, “White Boy Summer.” A play on Megan Thee Stallion’s 2019 hit song, “Hot Girl Summer,” “White Boy Summer” has taken the internet and meme culture by storm. And while “White Boy Summer” was not initially intended to be hateful,…

December 22, 2021

Jewish Groups Launch Portal for Students to Report Antisemitism Online; Jury Convicted Leader of Neo-Nazi Group for Conspiracy and Threats

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October 07, 2021 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 A new website where Jewish students can report antisemitism on college campuses and receive immediate support from security professionals and law enforcement launched. A new report from ADL details the decades-long efforts from an extremist group to make county sheriffs an absolute authority, with the ability to implement their own political agendas. A federal jury in Seattle convicted the purported leader of the violent neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen…

October 07, 2021

Largest Book Fair in Saudi History Exhibits Antisemitic “Protocols” and Other Hateful Titles for Sale

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October 05, 2021 Screenshot from the Twitter page of the Riyadh International Book Fair. By David Andrew Weinberg On October 1st, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture kicked off the Riyadh International Book Fair under the official patronage of the country’s ruler, King Salman. Billed this year as “the largest book fair in the history of the kingdom” and even “the region’s largest book fair,” the ten-day convention is one of the Arabian…

October 05, 2021