Malcolm Nance to Discuss Domestic Terrorism

On Saturday, February 27, at 4:00 p.m., Malcolm Nance, bestselling author and media commentator on terrorism, intelligence, and insurgency, will be part of a discussion titled "Domestic Terrorism: The Battle in Our Backyard." Hosted by the grassroots advocacy group IndivisibleColumbiaNY, the discussion will examine current activities in our area of white supremacy groups such as the Oath Keepers, Patriot Front, and Proud Boys. 

Cheryl Roberts, executive director of the Greenburger Center for Social and Criminal Justice and chair of the Columbia County Women's Alliance, a program sponsor, will moderate the discussion, which will include time for questions and answers as well as talking about action steps that citizens can take to monitor and combat these groups.

The program is a response to recruitment signs for white supremacy groups that have appeared in the Hudson Valley. Chatham resident Michael Richardson will add comments on the creation of HateWatchReport.com, a community watch group composed of social justice activists who monitor hate groups and other extremists through the Upper Hudson Valley and Taconic Hills and expose their activities to the public, the media, and law enforcement.

The press release announcing this event reads in part:

Racially and ethnically motivated terrorism--especially from white supremacists--is "on the rise and spreading geographically," according to a report that the U.S. State Department issued in early July 2020. This year, the most alarming manifestation of these groups' growing impact was seen in the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. The storming of the Capitol included dozens of law enforcement officers and active and retired military members and points to an infiltration of white supremacy into those sectors. The activities of domestic terrorist groups have targeted immigrants, religious minorities, LGBTQ people, the electoral process, feminists, and other "perceived enemies" of white supremacy. In 2019, data gathered by the Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) showed that the number of white nationalist groups rose for the second straight year, a 55 percent increase since 2017. The report determined that a growing sector of white supremacists call themselves "accelerationists" and believe that mass violence is necessary to bring about the collapse of our pluralistic society. At the time of the report, the SPLC identified 940 hate groups in the U.S.

You can register for this free event, which takes place on Saturday, February 27, at 4:00 p.m., at http://tinyurl.com/ICNY-Malcolm.