The number of hate groups in America is on the decline—that's the silver lining in the annual report on violent domestic extremism released this week by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
While the number of hate groups is on the decline, incidents of violence and other threats made by domestic hate groups remains the same. And according to SPLC, extremists are leaving groups in favor of the anonymity of the internet and are increasingly acting as lone wolves.
"More than half of the decline in hate groups was of Ku Klux Klan chapters, and many of those have apparently gone underground, ending public communications, rather than disbanding," the report says.
However, the most terrifying aspect of the report is that there is a growing trend of extremist ideology making its way into mainstream politics.
Heidi Beirich is the head of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center. She explains the findings laid out in the group's latest report.
