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Black Na�onalist Groups

Below is a chart showing the growth of black na�onalist extremism in America, and you can see the full list of over 230 Black Na�onalist groups on the Southern Poverty Law Center website.

Graphic Source: Southern Poverty Law Center.

References

Beinart, P. (2017, September). The Rise of the Violent Le�: An�fa’s ac�vists say they’re ba�ling burgeoning authoritarianism on the American right. Are they fueling it instead? The Atlan�c. h�ps://www.theatlan�c.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/the-rise-of-the- violent-le�/534192/

DTAU: Domes�c Terrorism Analysis Unit (2017, August). Black Iden�ty Extremists Likely Mo�vated to Target Law Enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Inves�ga�on. h�ps://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4067711-BIE-Redacted.html

InfluenceWatch (2018). An�fa. Capital Research Center. h�ps://www.influencewatch.org/movement/an�fa/

Rivinius, J. (2017, November 02). Ideological Mo�va�ons of Terrorism in the United States, 1970--2016. University of Maryland Na�onal Consor�um for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). (pages 1-6). h�p://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/START_IdeologicalMo�va�onsOfTerrorismInUS_Nov2017.pdf

Southern Poverty Law Center (2018). Black Na�onalist. h�ps://www.splcenter.org/figh�ng-hate/extremist-files/ideology/black- na�onalist

Togno�, C. (2015, June 11). Where is the Unabomber Now? Bustle. h�ps://www.splcenter.org/figh�ng-hate/extremist- files/ideology/black-na�onalist

Tu�le, I. (2017, June 5). The Roots of Le�-Wing Violence. Na�onal Review. h�ps://www.na�onalreview.com/2017/06/an�fa-protest- donald-trump-roots-le�-wing-poli�cal-violence/

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How Antifa Violence Has Split the Le� Tactics of the group are creating a rift among liberals about whether to denounce a

radical fringe whose objectives, if not methods, they often share

By Ian Lovett Follow , Jennifer Levitz Follow and Cameron McWhirter Follow

Updated Sept. 19, 2017 8:59 pm ET

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BERKELEY, Calif.—Thousands of protesters converged on Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park one Sunday late last month to confront far-right activists. Among them were dozens dressed in black with faces masked.

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An�fa

The term “an�fa” is short for an�fascist or An�-Fascist Ac�on (AFA). "An�fa traces its roots to the 1920s and ’30s, when militant le�ists ba�led fascists in the streets of Germany, Italy, and Spain. When fascism withered a�er World War II, an�fa did too. But in the ’70s and ’80s, neo-Nazi skinheads began to infiltrate Britain’s punk scene. A�er the Berlin Wall fell, neo-Nazism also gained prominence in Germany. In response, a cadre of young le�ists, including many anarchists and punk fans, revived the tradi�on of street-level an�fascism. In the late ’80s, le�-wing punk fans in the United States began following suit, though they ini�ally called their groups An�-Racist Ac�on, on the theory that Americans would be more familiar with figh�ng racism than fascism. According to Mark Bray, the author of the forthcoming An�fa: The An�-Fascist Handbook, these ac�vists toured with popular alterna�ve bands in the ’90s, trying to ensure that neo-Nazis did not recruit their fans. In 2002, they disrupted a speech by the head of the World Church of the Creator, a white- supremacist group in Pennsylvania; 25 people were arrested in the resul�ng brawl. By the 2000s, as the internet facilitated more transatlan�c dialogue, some American ac�vists had adopted the name an�fa. But even on the militant le�, the movement didn’t occupy the spotlight. To most le�-wing ac�vists during the Clinton, Bush, and Obama years, deregulated global capitalism seemed like a greater threat than fascism. Trump has changed that. For an�fa, the result has been explosive growth...Since an�fa is heavily composed of anarchists, its ac�vists place li�le faith in the state, which they consider complicit in fascism and racism. They prefer direct ac�on" (Beinart, 2017, para. 7-9, 11). According to the non-profit and independent Influence Watch "The term An�fa is currently used to define a broad group of people whose poli�cal beliefs lean toward the le�, o�en the extreme le�, who engage in aggressive protests against right- wing and center-right poli�cal groups. An�fa’s protest methods are o�en violent, and local leaders admit they’re willing to physically a�ack anyone who employs violence against them or who 'condones racism'...An�fa lacks a known organiza�onal structure or an official leader or headquarters, though individual groups in certain states reportedly hold regular mee�ngs. Anyone can claim the �tle and set up a local branch." As you can imagine, the lack of leadership and structure makes for a significant challenge for law enforcement and homeland security professionals to counter this le�-wing anarchist violence.

Le�-wing Extremism of the 1970s Le�-wing extremism is heavily influenced by Marxist ideology and other communist and socialist concepts. Le�-wing movements have their origins in 19th and early 20th century anarchism and became predominant during the Cold War. Modern le�-wing terrorism developed in the context of the global poli�cal unrest of the 1960s. While le�-wing terrorism is ideologically mo�vated, na�onalist- separa�st terrorism is ethnically mo�vated. Interes�ngly, the revolu�onary goal of le�-wing terrorism is non-nego�able, whereas na�onalist extremists are willing to make concessions. The most common ideological mo�va�on for extremism and terrorism within the United States in the 1970s were le�-wing cases. In fact, 68% of all a�acks and 58% of all deaths were a�ributed to le� wing movements with na�onalist/separa�st extremism accoun�ng for 39% of all a�acks and 37% of all deaths (Rivinius, 2017).

"The perpetrator organiza�ons most frequently responsible for le�-wing terrorist violence in the 1970s included the New World Libera�on Front (NWLF), the Weather Underground, and the Black Libera�on Army. Terrorist violence in the 1970s was also frequently a�ributed to le�-wing extremists and black na�onalists who were not affiliated with a par�cular organiza�on. The Armed Forces of Na�onal Libera�on (FALN) was the na�onalist/separa�st perpetrator group responsible for the most a�acks in the 1970s. The FALN, along with the Armed Revolu�onary Independence Movement (MIRA) and Independent Armed Revolu�onary Commandos (CRIA), was a Marxist-Leninist organiza�on that carried out terrorist a�acks with the aim of advancing the cause of Puerto Rican independence. Na�onalist/separa�st a�acks in the 1970s were also a�ributed to the le�-wing Chicano Libera�on Front based in Los Angeles and the right-wing, religious organiza�ons the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and its splinter group, the Jewish Armed Resistance (JAR). Other religious perpetrators that were ac�ve during the 1970s include the racially mo�vated “Zebra killers” a fringe element of the Na�on of Islam" (Rivinius, 2017, p.3).

“During an eighteen-month period in 1971 and 1972, the FBI reported more than 2,500 bombings on U.S. soil, nearly five a day.” So notes Bryan Burrough in his 2015 book Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgo�en Age of Revolu�onary Violence, which chronicles the 15-year reign of terror, idealism, and inep�tude of radical le�-wing groups such as the Weather Underground, the Black and Symbionese Libera�on Armies, and others that began in July 1969 with a bomb in Manha�an and ended in April 1985 with the arrest of the last members of the United Freedom Front in Norfolk, Va." (Tu�le, 2017, para. 17).

The 'New' Black Panthers

The modern manifesta�on of the Black Panthers of the 1970s is reflected in the current growth of black na�onalist movements today (some of which are violent). According to the Southern Poverty Law Center "The black na�onalist movement is a reac�on to centuries of ins�tu�onalized white supremacy in America. Black na�onalists believe the answer to white racism is to form separate ins�tu�ons — or even a separate na�on — for black people. Most forms of black na�onalism are strongly an�-white and an�-Semi�c. Some religious versions assert that black people are the biblical 'chosen people' of God" (SPLC, 2018). An example of a Black Na�onalist group is the Na�on of Islam or NOI which "...has grown into one of the wealthiest and best-known organiza�ons in black America, offering numerous programs and events designed to upli� African Americans. Nonetheless, its bizarre theology of innate black superiority over whites — a belief system vehemently and consistently rejected by mainstream Muslims — and the deeply racist, an�semi�c and an�-LGBT rhetoric of its leaders, including top minister Louis Farrakhan, have earned the NOI a prominent posi�on in the ranks of organized hate" (SPLC, 2018). Some recent violence by those likely inspired by Black na�onalism include:

Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley’s poli�cally mo�vated ambush killing of two New York City police officers on December 20, 2014.

Micah Johnson’s poli�cally mo�vated ambush killing of five Dallas police officers on July 7, 2016.

Black separa�st Gavin Long’s ambush killing of three police officers in Baton Rouge, La., on July 17, 2016.

A recent FBI report �tled "Black Iden�ty Extremists Likely Mo�vated to Target Law Enforcement" discusses these types of groups and specifies the following:

"The FBI defines black iden�ty extremists as individuals who seek, wholly or in part, through unlawful acts of force or violence, in response to perceived racism and injus�ce in American society and some do so in furtherance of establishing a separate black homeland or autonomous black social ins�tu�ons, communi�es, or governing organiza�ons within the United States. This desire for physical or psychological separa�on is typically based on either a religious or poli�cal belief system, which is some�mes formed around or includes a belief in racial superiority or supremacy. The mere advocacy of poli�cal or social posi�ons, poli�cal ac�vism, use of strong rhetoric, or generalized philosophic embrace of violent tac�cs may not cons�tute extremism, and may be cons�tu�onally protected" (DTAU, 2017, p.2).

Further the report outlines this new threat by sta�ng "The FBI assesses it is very likely a Black Iden�ty Extremist (BIE) percep�ons of police brutality against African Americans spurred an increase in premeditated, retaliatory lethal violence against law enforcement and will very likely serve as jus�fica�on for such violence" (DTAU, 2017, p.2).

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