Extremists Have Turned Texas into a Hotbed for Hate: Report
The report follows years of warnings that extremist groups have been emboldened by the Republican Party and its amplification of things such as “great replacement theory,” a white supremacist conspiracy theory that claims there is an intentional, Jewish-driven effort to destroy white people through immigration, interracial marriage and the LGBTQ+ community.
That conspiracy theory — and corresponding violence — has been bolstered by frequent depictions of immigrants as “invaders” by major figures such as Tucker Carlson and Gov. Greg Abbott. Before he set fire to an Austin synagogue on Halloween 2020, Franklin Barret Sechriest wrote in his diary that “no invader is innocent.” And, after a gunman, hoping to fight the “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” killed 22 people at an El Paso WalMart in 2019, Abbott vowed to stop using such language to describe immigrants. He has since resumed his use of “invasion” rhetoric.
The ADL also noted that Texas has hosted numerous conferences on QAnon. Pillars of the conspiracy theory — including the belief in a secret globalist cabal that sacrifices and rapes children — borrow heavily from centuries-old antisemitic tropes that have historically led to bloodshed, including by the Nazis.
Despite the myriad warnings about the conspiracy theory’s dangers, prominent Republicans — including Sen. Ted Cruz, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and former Texas GOP chairman Allen West — have appeared with major QAnon figures. In 2020, the Texas GOP also adopted a well-known QAnon slogan — “we are the storm” — that the party later tried to claim had nothing to do with the conspiracy theory.
The ADL also suggested a handful of “nonpartisan” policies that they said would help stem the growing extremism and violence. Among the recommendations: creating a commission to study domestic violent extremism, create annual assessments; and provide clear statistics on hate crimes; mandate that law enforcement agencies report hate crimes to the FBI; and “hold social media platforms accountable” by creating a task force to study and address online extremism.
“Elected officials in Texas have an opportunity to confront this issue to significantly curtail the negative impact that extremism has on the people they represent,” Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism, said in a statement. “It is imperative they prioritize the views and experiences of our most vulnerable communities so that targets of extremism have the resources they need to collaborate with law enforcement to solve this issue.”
Robert Downen is a reporter covering democracy and the threats to it, including extremism, disinformation and conspiracies, for the Texas Tribune. This story is published courtesy of the Texas Tribune, a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.
