white nationalists – Memphis Flyer

Unicorn Riot

White nationalist Peter Teftt is searched by Tennessee State Park Rangers before the American Renaissance conference at Montgomery Bell State Park in May, according to Unicorn Riot.

White nationalists from numerous organizations held meetings at a Tennessee state park last year and this year and, so far, Tennessee taxpayers are still on the hook for the meetings’ security.

That’s according to a recent report from MuckRock, the nonprofit news site dedicated to government transparency. MuckRock reporter Kent Hoover said the groups still haven’t paid the $21,058 bill from last year’s event and federal judge ruled that they didn’t have to, according to The Tennessean.

In May, ”American Renaissance” rented facilities at Montgomery Bell State Park, just west of Nashville. American Resistance is the magazine and website from the New Century Foundation, a group founded by white nationalist Jared Taylor in 1990.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) says the Foundation ”is a self-styled think tank that promotes pseudo-scientific studies and research that purport to show the inferiority of blacks to whites — although in hi-falutin’ language that avoids open racial slurs and attempts to portray itself as serious scholarship.” The Foundation says it’s “a progressive, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to foster opportunity, reduce inequality, and promote security at home and abroad.”

According to Unicorn Riot, a nonprofit news organization, about 100 protested the American Renaissance conference in May. That group said the state’s security force was large and largely focused on the protestors.

Tennessee law enforcement making a strong showing to protect neo-nazis who've been allowed to reserve their own private resort at the state park. In attendance is the American Identity Movement (formerly Identity Evropa) as well as ex-members of the National Socialist Movement. pic.twitter.com/lG3egYuHgJ

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) May 18, 2019

Report: Tennessee Taxpayers Pay for White Nationalists’ Security (2)

“Law enforcement deployed for 2019’s American Renaissance event included Tennessee State Park Rangers on ATVs, Tennessee State Troopers, a Tennessee Department of Corrections Strike Team, and deputies from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office,” reads the Unicorn Riot post. “A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation mobile command center and a Department of Corrections prison bus were both parked directly outside the conference center.”

MuckRock

Protestors told Unicorn Riot that they were denied a permit to rent a pavilion more than a half of a mile away from the conference center.

Report: Tennessee Taxpayers Pay for White Nationalists’ Security (3)

MuckRock reporter Hoover said, for now, taxpayers have to pay for all that protection.

“The extra security needed to prevent Montgomery Bell from becoming another Charlottesville costs money, and the state of Tennessee wants white nationalist groups that rent the conference center to pick up the tab,” Hoover wrote. “For this year’s conference, the state demanded that American Renaissance agree to pay for any extra security costs related to the protests and cover the costs of any damages to the park caused by protesters.”

The groups still haven’t paid any money for the added security.

Last weekend, an event called the Nationalist Solutions Conference was held at Montgomery Bell park. That event was hosted by the Council of Conservative Citizens and the American Freedom Party, both white supremacy groups. The conference featured speakers like David Duke, a former KKK Grand Wizard, and James Edwards, host of the Bartlett-based radio show called “The Political Cesspool,” which the SPLC calls “racist” and “anti-Semitic.”
Nationalist Solutions

A flyer for the Nationalist Solutions shows featured speakers, including former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke.

According to news site News2Share, dozens of antifa protestors were there to protest. Its video shows mounted police, a TBI mobile unit, Rutherford County Sheriffs deputies, park rangers, and more.

Report: Tennessee Taxpayers Pay for White Nationalists’ Security (3)

A 2018 white Nationalist rally Downtown Memphis

The number of hate groups in the United States rose by 7 percent in 2018, according to a recently released report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

In its yearly report titled “The Year in Hate: Rage Against Change,” the group said there are now 1,020 active hate groups in the country, up from 954 in 2017. The SPLC defines a hate group as one having “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically their immutable characteristics.”

Tennessee is home to 36 of those groups, including neo-Confederate, neo-Nazi, White Nationalist, and Black Nationalist groups, according to the report.

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In Memphis, there were six active hate groups last year — Black Nationalist groups Great Millstone, Israel United, New Black Panther Party for Self Defense, and Nation of Islam, as well as the neo-Confederate group League of the South and the White Nationalist group The Right Stuff.

Although nationally the SPLC reports that the number of hate groups has risen by 30 percent over the last four years, the number of groups in Tennessee has seen a slight, but steady decrease since 2015. In 2015, there were 41 hate groups in the state, 38 in 2016, 37 in 2017, and then 36 last year.

SPLC

Number of hate groups in U.S. over time

However, in Memphis, the numbers have been following the national trend, going from four groups in 2015 to six in 2018.

The SPLC also found that White Nationalist groups nationwide surged by almost 50 percent last year, increasing from 100 chapters in 2017 to 148 in 2018. Meanwhile, the center found that Black Nationalist groups have also been more prevalent, growing from 233 in 2017 to 264 last year.

This trend has been apparent locally and statewide. From 2017 to 2018, the number of White Nationalists groups in Tennessee went from two to four. In Memphis there were no active White Nationalists groups in 2017, and then in 2018 one group, The Right Stuff became active.

At the same time, last year the number of Black Nationalists groups in the state went from six to seven and from three to four locally.

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The report attributes the rise in the number of both groups to Donald Trump’s presidency.

“Most Americans are now fully aware that Trump is emboldening white supremacists and helping to grow their ranks,” the report reads. “An October poll by the Public Religion Research Institute shows a majority believe Trump has “encouraged white supremacist groups.”

The SPLC also cites that the U.S. Census Bureau’s projection that by 2044 white people will no longer be the majority in the United States “helped propel hate to a new high last year.”

Read SPLC’s full 2019 report here.