Virginia, Texas saw most white supremacist propaganda activity last year: ADL

Virginia and Texas saw the most white supremacist propaganda activity in 2023, which reached record highs across the country, according to a Tuesday report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Other states that saw relatively high levels of white supremacist propaganda activity in the U.S. 2023 were California, New York, Massachusetts, Missouri, Tennessee, Michigan, Maryland and North Carolina, according to the report from the ADL’s Center on Extremism. 

White supremacist propaganda incidents, which the ADL defines as “the distribution of racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ fliers, stickers, banners, graffiti, posters and laser projections,” jumped from 6,746 cases in 2022 to 7,567 cases in 2023, about a 12 percent increase, per the report.

“Propaganda campaigns are hugely popular among white supremacist groups and movements because they provoke media and online attention for the groups and messaging while limiting the risk of individual exposure, arrests and public backlash that often accompany more public activities,” according to the report.

“Propaganda, which can affect entire communities, allows a small number of people to have an outsized impact.”

The ADL also reported a rise in propaganda incidents “that included antisemitic language or symbols, targeted Jewish institutions or both,” saying it recorded 1,112 of such incidents, up from 852 in 2022, about a 31 percent increase.

In a period of about two weeks following the Oct. 7 attack last year on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, the ADL said it had tracked a sizable surge in antisemitic incidents, up 388 percent in comparison to the same period the year before. 

“When conflict erupts in Israel, antisemitic incidents soon follow in the U.S. and globally,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a release.