White supremacist propaganda rises in Washington state, report says

Washington state saw a sharp rise in white supremacist propaganda last year, according to a new report.

The Anti-Defamation League said there were 44 incidents in this state in 2018. That's up from 15 incidents the previous year.

Most of the incidents occurred in the Puget Sound region, with nine occurring in Seattle, the ADL said.

Nationwide, there was a similar increase, to nearly 1,200 incidents. The league said the propaganda included racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic fliers, banners and posters.

The report says white supremacists continue to target college students, but most of the increase in these incidents was seen off-campus.

The ADL says that groups responsible for disseminating white supremacist propaganda is changing:

“Off-campus propaganda distribution is a tactic long favored by neo-Nazis, Klan groups and other white supremacists, but in 2018, alt-right groups were responsible for most of these efforts. Patriot Front led the way with 324 distributions, while 312 incidents were linked to Identity Evropa. Daily Stormer followers were responsible for 34.

“Even the declining Klan movement noticeably increased their propaganda efforts in 2018."

In the past year, Klan fliers were left on at least 97 doorsteps or driveways at homes around the U.S. That's up 20 percent from the previous year.

You can see all the incidents in an ADL interactive and sort it for Washington state or individual cities.

In Seattle, the most recent incident listed by the ADL for 2018 occurred December 12. The listing says the Patriot Front posted fliers and stickers that read: "Keep America American," "Better dead than red," and "Not stolen conquered."

And new incidents have appeared this year, such as this one in Ballard in January.