A Nevada synagogue defaced by antisemitic propaganda in April 2021. Photo: courtesy of ADL

The distribution of white supremacist propaganda in the United States again reached historic levels in 2021, with all but one state targeted with antisemitic and racist materials, according to a new report issued on Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

The report from ADL’s Center on Extremism registered a 27 percent rise in propaganda targeting Jews and Jewish institutions. A total 4,851 cases of racist, antisemitic and other hateful messages were recorded, making 2021 the year with the second-highest level of incidents reported since ADL began tracking such data.

Hateful propaganda appeared in every state except Hawaii, with the highest levels of activity reported in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington State , Maryland and New York State. At least 38 white supremacist groups distributed propaganda, but three groups – Patriot Front, New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA) and Folkish Resistance Movement (FRM, formerly known as Folksfront) – were responsible for 91 percent of the activity, according to the ADL.

The lions’ share of propaganda distribution lay with the Texas-based Patriot Front, which was responsible for 82 percent of the national total of incidents. Members of the Patriot Front — led by a 24-year-old white nationalist named Thomas Ryan Rousseau — are required to meet weekly propaganda distribution targets, the ADL said.

The report also examined the coast-to-coast flyer campaign launched by the so-called “Goyim Defense League” (GDL), a neo-Nazi group that has staged demonstrations in cities around the US blaming Jews for the COVID-19 pandemic and denying the Holocaust.

“‘GDL’ has continued monthly propaganda drives into 2022, making dozens of propaganda distributions in seventeen different states,” the report observed. “In most cases, the propaganda claimed, ‘Every single aspect of the Covid agenda is Jewish’ or ‘Every single aspect of the Biden administration is Jewish.'”

“White supremacists more frequently are resorting to hate propaganda as a tactic to spread their noxious ideas and recruit new membership,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement accompanying the report. “It’s particularly disturbing that at a time of when violent antisemitic assaults are on the rise, these groups are dialing-up their hateful rhetoric against Jews and canvassing entire communities with hate literature. This is an alarming trend that needs to be checked, now.”