KKK 'still a threat to society', 42 groups remain active in 33 US states: report

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Burning crosses and masked and robed men on horseback may seem a thing of the past, but the Ku Klux Klan is still very much present in the US, and is even seeing some growth.

A new report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a US civil rights advocacy group, on Thursday found 42 Ku Klux Klan groups are still active across 33 US states.

Unstable growth

The 150-year-old hate organization has approximately 3,000 active members and unaffiliated individuals who identify with its white supremacist ideology, according to the ADL report. The largest active KKK groups contain 50 to 100 members, while most groups have less than 25.

ADL Photo

But the number of active groups has actually increased slightly since early 2016, from 37 to 42. More than half of the newly-formed groups concentrated in southern and eastern states during the last three years, showing the groups’ “inability to demonstrate stability or continuity,” the ADL said.

ADL Photo

'Still a threat to society'

Internal turmoil and competition for membership from other white supremacist organizations in the US were behind the short lives of KKK groups.

“The Ku Klux Klan movement is small and fractured, but still poses a threat to society,”

- Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of Anti-Defamation League

But this in no way minimized the potential threat.

“The Ku Klux Klan movement is small and fractured, but still poses a threat to society,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of ADL. “These hardened racists and bigots are looking to spread fear, and if they grow dissatisfied with the Klan, they move on to other groups on the extreme far-right. There’s lots of instability and unpredictability in the Klan movement.”

Collaboration with other groups

The Southern Poverty Law Center estimated in 2014 there were about 930 hate groups in the US. The KKK has collaborated with many white supremacist groups in recent years and this has been linked to violence and criminal activities.

A protester countering KKK rally is stabbed during fight against KKK members in US state of California earlier last year. /VCG Photo

“For a number of years, the Klan has tried to regain its standing among the hodgepodge of hate groups but have largely failed to maintain the notorious status they once had,” said Oren Segal, director of ADL’s Center on Extremism.

“Despite the decline, we are still seeing the same extremist ideology manifesting itself into violence from some of its purported membership. The somewhat new collaboration with some of the most vehement white supremacists out there is a concerning trend we will continue to monitor and expose.”

Struggling to 'rebrand'

In a bid to attract new members, Ku Klux Klan groups have targeted other states such as New York and Ohio in recent months.

Earlier this month, a KKK group handed out flyers in New York for its rally in Virginia in July. The group called itself the “Kool Kids Klub” in the advertisement, local media reported.

In February, residents in the same area also saw Valentine's Day-themed KKK advertisements saying “Love your own race.”