New SPLC Report Details 75 Radical Plots, Rampages

It's been a remarkable few months in the world of domestic terrorism and the radical right. Since the election of Barack Obama last November, six law enforcement officers -- three Pittsburgh police officers, two Okaloosa County, Fla., sheriff's deputies, and a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. -- have been murdered, allegedly by right-wing extremists. There has been a spate of Obama assassination plots, and a physician who provided abortions was shot to death in his own Kansas church. And a number of recent reports from federal and other law enforcement agencies have pointed out that the radical right seems to be growing increasingly dangerous, findings that jibe with a February analysis by the Southern Poverty Law Center that documents the rise of hate groups since 2000.

In light of these incidents, the Southern Poverty Law Center this week releases a sweeping review of terrorism and other serious violence that has emanated from the domestic radical right since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The special report -- "Terror From the Right: 75 Plots, Conspiracies and Racist Rampages Since Oklahoma City" --shows that domestic right-wing terrorism is far more prevalent than most Americans realize. The report begins with a short introduction that is followed by summary descriptions of each of the 75 cases.

Comments

[Richard Keefe]

If anyone has ever wondered why Mr. Potok is compensated with more than $143,000 donor dollars a year from the SPLC's $200 million donor dollar war chest, now you know.

"Domestic terrorism" is SO rampant in the country that Mr. P only had to go back FIFTEEN YEARS to cobble together 75 alleged "conspiracies", the first 55 of which allegedly took place more than 5 years ago. Some "spike".

By rights, there should have been 76, if you include the pair of 8 year olds on the school bus who called the president bad names back in January. Mr. Potok even went on National Public Radio with that hard hitting news.

This "report," just like his grossly bloated "Hate Map", is just the latest in a long line of scare tactic fund raising tools. Granted, with over $200 million donor dollars in the bank, and Mr. Potok and SPLC founder Morris Dees splitting the first half million of those donor dollars to come in each year, you can't deny that as public relations guys go, Mark Potok is one of the best.

Mr. Potok's modesty is his shortcoming. He neglects to mention which of the 75 "terror events" the SPLC was responsible for cracking. If the good people sent him $200 million hard earned dollars, the least he can do is demonstrate how effective the SPLC has been in "fighting hate." Even a single example would be more than sufficient; it doesn’t even have to be on this list.