The number of hate groups in the United States declined by 17 per cent in 2014 as compared to the year before, though violent acts by domestic extremists have not abated, a report released on Tuesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center found.
Many former members of hate groups, which include neo-Nazis, black separatists and organizations targeting gays, Muslims and immigrants, have left to spread their views anonymously on the Internet, said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the SPLC.
"Domestic terrorists and other extremists with criminal intentions also are increasingly acting alone, choosing to commit lethal attacks without the help of an organized group," Potok said in a statement.
The rate of extremist violence in the US in recent years is comparable to that of the 1990s, at the height of the militia movement, the SPLC said.
So-called "Patriot" groups, which are skeptical of the government, also declined in number in 2014, by 20 per cent, the SPLC said, to a total of 874.
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