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Neo-Nazi & White Supremacist Groups Organize “National Day of Hate” for Saturday; Synagogues Advised to Be Vigilant

Edited by: Fern Sidman

According to Telegram posts located by Counter Extremism Project (CEP) researchers, several neo-Nazi groups in certain locations in the United States are planning an anti-Semitic “National Day of Hate” on Saturday, February 25. The participants are identified as the National Socialist Movement, two regional active club chapters in Iowa and California, and a small New York-based group, according to a statement posted on Thursday on the Counter Extremism Project web site, conuterextremism.com. Other groups around the country may also be participating. The announcement post on Telegram encouraged propaganda activities such as dropping banners, putting up stickers and fliers, and vandalism through graffiti.

::WARNING:: Authorities are precautioning that White neo-Nazi extremist groups could be planning to target Jewish people in a “National Day of Hate” on Saturday, February 25, 2023. ?? pic.twitter.com/iwJRqpWwtu

— Kenny Akers (@KeneAkers) February 25, 2023

The coordinated activities have been advertised on Telegram and use extreme anti-Semitic language, calling Jews “the one true enemy of the American people.” Other white supremacist groups have also been invited to get involved and are encouraged to send photos and videos of anti-Semitic rallies and banner drops to a Telegram account allegedly for the leader of the Iowa active club, as was reported by the Counter Extremism Project.

non-jews please share this.

tomorrow across america, neo-nazis are planning rallies for what they are referring to as a “national day of hate” look after your jewish friends and to all of my fellow jews: please be on alert. shabbat shalom. pic.twitter.com/RQLgk2JrwU

— aidan ✡︎ (@RAVENCHlLD) February 25, 2023

“Telegram is a main online organizing point for the extreme right to recruit and organize coordinated hate events throughout the U.S., footage from which can be used in future propaganda videos,” said CEP researcher Joshua Fisher-Birch. “Tech platforms, especially Telegram, are too often neglecting their responsibility to protect public safety and have allowed these groups to have an online presence, plan events, and grow.”

Statistics published by the FBI show that over the 10-year period between 2009 and 2018, Jews have consistently been targeted in bias crimes more often than any other group, the Counter Extremism Project reported. Of the 1,650 hate crime incidents motivated by religious bias recorded in 2019, 60.3 percent targeted Jews.

Let me be clear: New York will not stand for a single day, hour, or minute of hate against our communities.

Support our Jewish neighbors, stay vigilant, and report anything suspicious:

1-888–NYC-SAFE#ShabbatOfPeaceNotHatehttps://t.co/TuJP0r2W6W

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) February 24, 2023

Counterextremism.com also reported that the four named groups who have stated that they plan to participate in Saturday’s events have previously conducted various propaganda events such as banner drops, small rallies, or sticker campaigns. In a similar multi-state action seeking media attention in 2021, several white supremacist groups coordinated racist banner drops on the anniversary of the killing of George Floyd, attempting to garner local media coverage, the organization stated.

The Times of Israel reported that law enforcement and Jewish groups in the US are urging vigilance ahead of the “national day of hate” planned by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups for Saturday.

The report indicated that there are no known threats of violence and a Jewish security group said it did not expect widespread participation.

“Take a stand, and expose the international clique of parasitic vermin that infest our nation,” said a statement attributed to the hate groups, the TOI reported. “Make your voices heard loud and clear, that the one true enemy of the American people is the Jew.”

The New York Police Department said it had not identified any specific threats in New York City, but would be stepping up security at houses of worship out of an abundance of caution.

The NYPD urged New Yorkers to “remain vigilant” and report any suspicious activity, according to the TOI report.

The Anti-Defamation League said it had been monitoring the situation and various extremist groups have endorsed and shared plans for the day of hate. The TOI also indicated that the hate groups were likely to carry out antisemitic flier distributions, small protests and vandalism, said Oren Segal, the vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism.

Several hate groups have said they are participating in the event, including the Goyim Defense League, whose propaganda apparently motivated the suspect in the shooting last week of two Los Angeles men who were returning from synagogue, as was reported by the northjersey.com web site.

“This is all about harassing Jews and creating a public space for hate mongers.  This becomes a recruitment tool to invite others into this dark place of promoting hate and anti-Semitism,” said Jason Shames, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, as was reported on the northjersey.com web site. “Nobody should tolerate this. The community at large needs to unify against hate.”

The groups involved are relatively small but garner significant attention due to their “abhorrent activities,” Segal of the ADL said.

The ADL and the Secure Community Network (SCN), a Jewish security group, issued bulletins to local communities ahead of the expected events on Saturday, the TOI reported,

SCN said it had been tracking the extremist calls since early January, when a minor neo-Nazi group called for a “day of MASS ANTI-SEMITIC ACTION” on the Telegram messaging app.

Newsweek reported that according to the ADL, the National Socialist Movement is the largest neo-Nazi group in the U.S., though it has experienced a decline in membership in recent years. It is currently led by Burt Colucci.

The group was behind the recent neo-Nazi demonstration at the opening of Parade, a Broadway show about a Jewish man named Leo Frank who was lynched in Georgia in 1912 on false charges that he murdered a young girl named Mary Phagan at a pencil company, the Counter Extremism Project said. It stated that two regional chapters in Iowa and California, as well as a small group in New York, were planning to participate in the Day of Hate, as was reported by Newsweek.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, citing ADL sources, identified the Crew-319 group in Iowa as behind the call for action, Newsweek reported.

The groups urged followers to  “shock the masses with banner drops, stickers, fliers, and graffiti.”

Antisemitic attackers have murdered Jews in recent years in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California, according to the TOI report.

Earlier this month, an attacker firebombed a synagogue in northern New Jersey, causing no injuries or damage. A man wearing a ski mask lit the wick of a Molotov cocktail and hurled it at the front door of a Bloomfield, N.J., synagogue, the New York Times reported. The latest episode in an uptick of harassment and violence targeting Jews and Jewish institutions, the authorities said, according to a report in the New York Times.

Police in Bloomfield in Essex County said officers responded to a report of property damage at Temple Ner Tamid, the AP reported.

The synagogue is part of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest New Jersey, which announced the incident without identifying the temple or its location, NJ.com reported. The organization’s president, David Saginaw, was quoted as saying “Thankfully, the device did not work as intended and as such, the damage was limited,” as was reported by the AP.

The AP also reported that police opened an attempted arson and bias incident investigation and are investigating with the aid of Essex County prosecutors, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Police released a photo of the masked suspect, who they said is believed to be a Caucasian male.

The New Jersey attorney general’s office said it was aware of the attempted arson and was working with local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies to identify and apprehend the suspect, the AP reported.

The state attorney general, Matthew J. Platkin, said in a statement that his office was also made aware of a separate “attack on members of a church in Monmouth County” on Saturday, according to the NYT report.

Late last year, New York law enforcement arrested two men and seized weapons after one of the suspects threatened to “shoot up a synagogue,” the TOI reported.  Police found a Nazi armband with the men’s weapons.

The TOI also reported that an American Jewish Committee survey earlier this month found that four in 10 US Jews feel their status is less secure than a year ago, and only 4 percent said the situation had improved.

An ADL study published earlier Thursday indicated the number of US mass killings linked to extremism over the past decade was at least three times higher than the total from any other 10-year period since the 1970, the TOI reported.

The ADL recorded 2,717 antisemitic incidents across the country in 2021, a 34% increase from the previous year, and the highest since it began tracking in 1979.

In New York, home to the largest Jewish community in the US, NYPD data showed 263 antisemitic hate crimes in 2022, a steep rise in incidents targeting Jews in the past two years.