Patriot Front hate group ramps up activity in Texas, according to Anti-Defamation League

Group: League of the South League of the South Type: Neo-confederate

Located in: San Antonio, Pointblank

Source: Southern Poverty Law Center Group: League of the South League of the South Type: Neo-confederate

Located in: San Antonio, Pointblank

Source: Southern Poverty Law Center Photo: John Moore/Getty Images Photo: John Moore/Getty Images Image 1 of / 59 Caption Close Patriot Front hate group ramps up activity in Texas, according to Anti-Defamation League 1 / 59 Back to Gallery

In Houston, white supremacists gathered in September outside a Houston book fair, heckling attendees with smoke bombs and chanting phrases such as "Blood and Soil."

In Dallas in October, members of the same group hung a banner from an overpass that read, "Take a knee, back in Africa."

And in November, about 25 members and associates of the group, Patriot Front, demonstrated in front of the George Washington statue at the University of Texas wearing masks and carrying burning torches.

Dozens of times since forming in August, members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front have distributed racist or anti-Semitic flyers on college campuses across the country, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate groups.

"Patriot Front has been ramping up activity in our state," said Dayan Gross, ADL Southwest Regional Director. "The report is designed to help law enforcement and others understand more about the group,"

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Hate-watch groups like the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center say they have observed a marked rise in hate groups and hate crimes or other bias-related incidents in recent years.

Law enforcement departments across the country reported 6,121 hate and bias-related crimes in 2016, up from 5,818 such crimes reported in 2015. Of those, 178 were reported by Texas law enforcement departments.

One of the most notorious incidents occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this year, when white supremacists from American Vanguard - another identified hate group - gathered at a "Unite the Right" rally to protest the removal of Confederate statues.

After the protest, white supremacists clashed with counter-protesters, and one plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters with his car, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

RELATED: As hate crimes rise in US, experts believe many incidents not being reported in Texas

Authorities charged the driver, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio, with second-degree murder. He was seen in photos earlier that day holding a "Vanguard America" sign and standing with other members of the group.

In the aftermath, members of American Vanguard's Texas chapter regrouped and branded themselves as the Patriot Front, according to the ADL's report.

Members of the group claim their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it solely to them, according to the report. The group embraces racism, anti-semitism and intolerance under the guise of preserving the "ethnic and cultural origins" of their European ancestors.

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St. John Barned-Smith covers public safety and major breaking news for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Send tips to st.john.smith@chron.com.