NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu.
CSUSB professor interviewed on rise of hate crimes in the U.S.KBPS (San Diego)Oct. 29, 2018 Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, was interviewed for the public broadcast radio station’s “Midday Edition” program on the topic of the rise of hate crimes in the U.S. This comes in the days after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that killed 11 people. He said an escalation in violence such as that seen in Pittsburgh was expected. “One of the things that's important is the rise of white nationalism and what we have seen is, for instance, an explosion of hate speech in certain dark corners of the Internet. We also saw in the two and a half years going into, and just past Charlottesville (Virginia, in August 2017), more mega rallies that has large rallies by white supremacist or nationalists of 100 or more people in public. We saw more of them in those two and a half years than the previous 10 to 20 years combined. “What else are we seeing? We're seeing a slew of candidates running for places like U.S. Senate and Congress who are white nationalists white supremacist and Holocaust deniers. And we're seeing more of them this time around. Running for the higher offices than we've seen in some time. We know that from some of the social surveys out there that the most hardened bigots around the upper single digits. So, for instance, an ABC Washington Post poll from last year showed that 9 percent of Americans said that Nazi views were acceptable. So, unfortunately we have this this rock of hate that while small seems to be a bit intractable.” Listen to the entire program at “Hate crimes on the rise in U.S ”
Anti-Semites and white supremacists ‘are more emboldened’ to commit hate incidents, CSUSB professor saysLos Angeles TimesOct. 30, 2018 In its continuing coverage of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the newspaper reported that “anti-Semitism has always been present in American society, but in the last two years it has been especially visible.” “We’re not necessarily seeing a historic rise in anti-Semitism when you zoom out,” Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. “But the anti-Semites and white supremacists are more emboldened.” Earlier this year, the Anti-Defamation League reported that on social media “4.2 million anti-Semitic tweets were shared or re-shared in English on Twitter” over a yearlong period ending in January. “A lot of anti-Semitism has now gone from public spaces to virtual spaces,” Levin said. “We have a fragmentation of hate groups. We now have loners, autonomous actors and small local groups filling the gap where the largest groups had previously exerted some kind of prominence. Not anymore.” Read the complete article at “Anti-Semitic incidents are surging across the U.S. Here are the numbers.”
Increasing diversity, white nationalism and decreasing trust in institutions among factors in rise of anti-Semitic incidents, CSUSB professor saysThe Baltimore SunOct. 30, 2018 Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, has studied hate crimes for three decades. He was interviewed for an article about the sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Maryland and in the nation. Levin said Maryland has had a long history of anti-Semitism in part due to its robust Jewish population. He said he began studying hate in the state in the mid-1980s during a rash of anti-Semitic incidents at the University of Maryland, College Park. One student was convicted of assault and battery after shooting a BB gun at a female Jewish student five times while shouting Nazi slogans. Levin cited the increasing diversity of the U.S. population, the spread of white nationalism, and decreasing trust in institutions as some of the factors contributing to the recent increase in reported hate incidents. And, he said, social media provide a ready platform to spread hateful views. Read the complete article at “Pittsburgh shooting comes amid sharp rise in reported anti-Jewish incidents in Maryland, across U.S.”
The rise of violent political extremism topic of program featuring CSUSB professorWPR (Wisconsin)Oct. 30, 2018 The Wisconsin public radio station promoted its interview with Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, scheduled to air at 4:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Levin was invited to talk about the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and what could be fueling such incidents. The audio from the program will be posted here after the interview is broadcast.
Anti-Semitism, Second Amendment rights and white nationalists discussed by CSUSB professor in articleThe Huffington PostOct. 29, 2018 In an article written by Nick Wing, Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino said that white nationalists have long held up gun rights as a prominent feature of their anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. The story of “The Turner Diaries,” a 1978 novel often called the “bible of the racist right,” begins with the passage of the fictitious Cohen Act, a bill that leads to the confiscation of all civilian-owned firearms. The legislation prompts the book’s main character to mount an uprising against the “System,” a federal government depicted as being controlled by Jewish interests. “Whenever there’s an anti-elitist type of political movement, invariably, when it comes to some kind of global cabal, Jews are always just one step away from being falsely identified as the malevolent protagonists,” said Levin. “One of the key points with regard to supporting nationalism is a focus on gun regulations being in some way a deprivation of liberty.” As the NRA works to reinvent itself not just as a gun rights organization but as a leading voice in a broader culture war, it may become more comfortable employing the sort of rhetoric that has historically been relegated to the darker corners of the internet, said Levin. “What we’re seeing now is an appeal to some of the more conspiratorial theories about how individual liberties are being somehow deprived, and, of course, the first one is the deprivation of Second Amendment rights,” said Levin. “What we’re seeing is a convergence of not only political tribalism but unfortunately its sibling of bigotry relating to race and religion.” Read the complete article at “How the NRA stokes conspiratorial anti-Semitism.”
CSUSB professor quoted in article about federal hate crime lawsVOAOct. 30, 2018 In an article about federal hate crime laws and how they are prosecuted, Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said that federal prosecutors generally let local prosecutors handle hate crime cases. 'But [in] the very high-profile cases where they believe there is a national interest in prosecuting the case, federal prosecutors will invoke federal law irrespective of what the state prosecutors do,' Levin said. Read the complete article at “U.S. hate crime laws explained.”
One cost of banning extremists from mainstream social media is they can create ‘virtual universities of hate’ on other less policed platforms, CSUSB professor saysKQED (San Francisco)Oct. 30, 2018 The suspect in the in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting posted anti-Semitic screeds on a social media website called Gab, whose founder said operates without censorship of its posters, while other sites such as Twitter have been moving to ban users who spout hate speech. Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said, “One of the costs of segregating bigots into their own ecosystem, (is they create) virtual universities for hate that aren’t on the more well-known, mainstream social media platforms.” Listen to the segment at http://my.tvey.es/d3PJj. Note, this link is valid for 30 days from Oct. 30, 2018.
CSUSB professor interviewed about anti-Semitic incidents in the Los Angeles areaKPCC (Pasadena)Oct. 29, 2018 In the aftermath of the Oct. 27 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the news program examines the trend of anti-Semitic incidents in the greater Los Angeles region. Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said Jews are often more prominent targets in hate crimes, “in part, because white nationalists are taking their fight to ‘blue’ places, but also because Jews tend to be represented in more major cities.” Listen to the segment at http://my.tvey.es/Em46J. Note, this link is valid for 30 days from Oct. 29, 2018.
Extremists like the Florida mail bomb suspect erroneously think they’re acting for the ‘greater good,’ but in reality they are not, CSUSB professor saysKNX-AM Radio (Los Angeles)Oct.30, 2018 In its continuing coverage of the case of a man mailing pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN, the news station again interviewed with Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. This segment focused on investigators finding more names, a many as 100, on a list the suspect had. The suspect may have been thinking “he was doing society a favor and wouldn’t get caught,” the report said. “That’s something we see with extremists all the time,” Levin said. “That either they won’t get caught or they think they will be forgiven because (they’re) doing something for the so-called greater good, which, obviously, they’re not.” Listen to the segment at http://my.tvey.es/n2MLw. Note, this link is valid for 30 days from Oct. 30, 2018.
Lone extremists who are difficult to track present challenge to law enforcement, CSUSB professor saysCBC (Canada)Oct. 26, 2018 A segment about the suspect in the mailing of pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN included an interview with Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. Levin, who appears at about the 5-minute, 2-second mark in the video, offered some insight into the case and what may have influenced the suspect to act out. “What we saw was this rising tide where groups (of far-right extremists) were involved. And we saw that ‘Unite the Right’ rally (in August 2017 in Charlottesville, Va.). Since then, we’ve seen fragmentation of both the organization and their leadership, which means that a lot of these loose cherries, which would just be content to go to a rally or spout on the internet, might actually become operational. So, these loners represent the biggest problem for law enforcement because it’s hard to investigate a trail of one.” See the full segment at “Florida man facing 5 federal charges in bomb scare case.”
These news clips and others may be found at “In the Headlines” at inside.csusb.edu.