ADL: Connecticut sees rise in hate group incidents in recent months

The ADL says 20 towns across the state were hit with hate-filled flyers. Back on July 5, residents in the Town of Berlin woke up to flyers in the street and on their front lawns.

Shosh Bedrosian

Jul 31, 2022, 10:45 PM

Updated 846 days ago

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In the last four months, the Anti-Defamation League in Connecticut says there's been an increased hate group presence in the state.
"Connecticut has been the 16th most-targeted state in 2021," says Stacey Sobel, ADL's Connecticut regional director.
The ADL says 20 towns across the state were hit with hate-filled flyers. Back on July 5, residents in the Town of Berlin woke up to flyers in the street and on their front lawns.
“…Over 1 in every 10 Connecticut towns has experienced a white supremacist flyering incident," says Sobel.
Kenneth Gray, a retired FBI special agent and senior lecturer at the University of New Haven, says the types of actions of these groups are important to note.
"So, you can have a hate group that may be supportive of [flyering], but without any acts of violence, you can't characterize them as a terrorist group," he says.
ADL says as the presence of hate groups continues to rise, so do antisemitic incidents.
"Nationwide the increase was 34% but in Connecticut in the past year – the increase is 42%," says Sobel.
According to an ADL report in April, there were 10 more incidents in Connecticut consisting of harassment and vandalism. They say many are likely unreported.
For more information about reporting an anti-semitic incident, click here https://www.adl.org/report-antisemitic-bias-or-discriminatory-incident?_ga=2.159198845.678754496.1659276787-293003628.1658944408