Report: KKK Is Wracked by 'Internal Turmoil'

The Ku Klux Klan is suffering from declining influence and plagued by infighting, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League. The 152-year-old hate group's "most consistent activity" is handing out hate literature, and their chief targets are Black Lives Matter, LBGT issues such as transgender bathrooms, Muslims, immigrants, and keeping the Confederate flag flying, per the report. But as far as fliering goes, USA Today points out a year-over-year drop, with the ADL recording 86 such incidents in which fliers were left at people's homes in 2015 and 78 in 2016. There was a slight increase on one front, though: The report finds 42 active Klan-affiliated groups in 2017 as compared to 37 in early 2016, though most have fewer than 25 members.

They have held activities in 33 states in the last 18 months, but attendance has been light, with USA Today citing two June events that drew just 10 and 12 people, respectively. Distrust has wracked the ranks, with members dissing each other on social media. The ADL notes one post from a Klan member griped there are "more Imperial Wizards on Facebook then there is at Hogwart's Academy." While the head of the ADL’s Center on Extremism says the KKK has "largely failed to maintain the notorious status they once had," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt warns that Klan acolytes still represent a danger. "These hardened racists and bigots are looking to spread fear," he says, warning that unhappy members may move on from the "small and fractured" KKK to other extreme far right groups. (This KKK leader's murder was allegedly a family affair.)