Top Takeaways

The old guard of the neo-Nazi movement struggled under significant setbacks in 2019. The National Socialist Movement, a decades-old group with roots in the American Nazi Party, saw the widely publicized loss of its leader, Jeff Schoep. Groups like the Traditionalist Worker Party and Vanguard America—both of which were influential at the Charlottesville rally in 2017 but lost relevance in the movement during the aftermath—were unable to rebuild their coalitions. But the momentum of the neo-Nazi movement is building behind groups and online communities with a terroristic focus, those who commit themselves to more openly violent messages and strategies in service of their racist worldview.

Key Moments

Andrew Anglin, founder of the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer, lost three lawsuits, including one brought by the SPLC. His site lost DDoS protection from Bitmitigate and is regularly inaccessible on the clear web, though it survives on the dark web. Despite these issues, the neo-Nazi movement was energized by the string of racially motivated mass murders perpetrated around the world in 2019, including the attacks in New Zealand, El Paso, Texas, and Poway, California.

What’s Ahead

The frequency and scale of far-right attacks across the world have been celebrated in online neo-Nazi spaces. These spaces have embraced more openly violent messages, including advocating for more terrorism. This rhetoric will continue in 2020.

Background

While some neo-Nazi groups emphasize simple hatred, others are more focused on the revolutionary creation of a fascist political state. Nazism, of course, has roots in Europe, and links between American and European neo-Nazis are strong and growing stronger. American neo-Nazi groups, protected by the First Amendment, often publish material and host Internet sites that are aimed at European audiences -- materials that would be illegal under European anti-racism laws. Similarly, many European groups put up their Internet sites on American servers to avoid prosecution under the laws of their native countries.

The most visible neo-Nazi group in the U.S. is the National Alliance. Until his death, it was led by William Pierce, the infamous author of the futuristic race-war novel The Turner Diaries, a book believed by some to have served as the blueprint for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

2019 neo-Nazi hate groups

View all groups by state and by ideology.

*Asterisk denotes headquarters​

American Nazi Party

California

New Hampshire

Ohio

South Carolina

Atomwaffen Division

California

Colorado

Florida

Maryland

New Jersey

Texas

Virginia

Washington

The Daily Stormer

Ohio*

Alabama

California

Massachusetts

Michigan

New Hampshire

New Jersey

Texas

Washington

Wisconsin

Endangered Souls RC/Crew 519

Florida

Idaho

Feuerkrieg Division

California

Florida

Kansas

New Jersey

New York

Philadelphia, PA

Texas

Washington

National Alliance

Laurel Bloomery, TN*

Iowa

Hillsboro, WV

National Socialist German Workers Party

Lincoln, NE

National Socialist Legion

Massachusetts

National Socialist Liberation Front

Pennsylvania*

Alabama

Georgia

New York

National Socialist Movement

Kissimmee, FL*

Maricopa, AZ

Connecticut

Illinois

Kentucky

Detroit, MI

Missouri

Pennsylvania

Tennessee

Vermont

New Order

Milwaukee, WI*

Florida

NS Publications

Wyandotte, MI

PzG Inc.

Rapid City, SD

Radio Wehrwolf

Wisconsin

Third Reich Books

Fairbury, NE

Vanguard News Network

Kirksville, MO

White Aryan Resistance

San Jacinto, CA