Expand / Collapse search
☰

White supremacist propaganda at an ‘all-time high’ in Georgia, new ADL report shows

By
Published  March 13, 2023 11:40pm EDT
Georgia
FOX 5 Atlanta

Antisemitic propaganda at an ‘all-time high’

Acts of antisemitism could come with stiffer penalties under a bill that lawmakers in the state house passed last week, which would define antisemitism, so that it’s included under Georgia’s hate crimes law.

ATLANTA - New data released by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism shows a troubling trend of white supremacist propaganda on the rise. The data, which went public earlier this month, revealed that incidents reported across the US nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022—with Georgia identified as one of the states seeing the most activity.

"The national numbers paint one picture, but the numbers in Georgia paint a much starker picture unfortunately," ADL Southeast Regional Director Eytan Davidson told FOX 5.

FOX 5 has reported on a number of people across the metro Atlanta area finding antisemitic flyers in their mailboxes and around neighborhoods. 

"Incidents included racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ flyers, stickers, banners, graffiti and posters as well as laser projections," Davidson explained. "ADL data shows a 38 percent increase in incidents from the previous year with a total of 6,751 cases reported in 2022 compared to 4,876 in 2021." 

Antisemitic propaganda incidents jumped from 352 incidents reported in 2021 to 852 incidents reported in 2022. Georgia ranked 10th in the nation for the number of incidents reported.

"In Georgia, white supremacists were behind 201 incidents of propaganda in Georgia…more than 415 percent increase from the 39 incidents in 2021," said Davidson. 

One example of white supremacist pamphlets being left in Georgia neighborhoods.

One example of white supremacist pamphlets being left in Georgia neighborhoods. (FOX 5)

Acts of antisemitism could come with stiffer penalties under a bill that lawmakers in the state house passed last week, which would define antisemitism, so that it’s included under Georgia’s hate crimes law. The state Senate has not yet voted on the bill, but it is legislation Davidson said the ADL supports fully. 

"I encourage people to continue to reject this hateful propaganda and to continue to work together because this is not a problem that just affects one community…it affects all of our communities," he stated.

Davidson added that despite the alarming numbers, people should remember that the groups responsible only represent a small sector of the population, and continue to report those incidents to both the ADL and local law enforcement.