Extremism has gone mainstream.
That warning comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center with the release of its “Year in Hate & Extremism.” The annual report contends that a loose coalition of “hard right” groups including militias, anti-government extremists, conspiracy theorists and white nationalists are working together to undermine democracy.
The SPLC’s report, released Wednesday, counted 1,221 hate and anti-government extremist groups active in 2021 in the United States, including 34 in Georgia. Those numbers represent a third straight annual decrease, but the progressive non-profit based in Alabama said the declining numbers are because some of the ideologies pushed by the groups have made their way into mainstream American politics, embedding themselves inside the Republican Party.
