Thirty hate and extremist groups operated in Colorado in 2023 with anti-government groups spreading across the state, according to a report released Tuesday by a human rights nonprofit.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s annual Year in Hate and Extremism report identified groups in Colorado that include Moms for Liberty chapters in Boulder, Garfield, Mesa and Weld counties — which the organization labeled as anti-government — as well as three sovereign citizen organizations, neo-Nazis, white nationalists, anti-LGBTQ groups and general conspiracy propagandists.
Some of the groups operate statewide while others are limited to a single county.
Moms for Liberty, which bills itself as a parental rights organization, declined an interview with The Denver Post to talk about its operations in Colorado, but its national co-founders sent an emailed statement disagreeing with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s designation.
“Moms for Liberty will remain committed to ensuring that parents around the country have the protection of their fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their child,” Moms for Liberty co-founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice said in the statement.
In 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 1,430 hate and extremist groups in the United States, according to the report. That’s up from 1,225 nationwide in 2022, the report said.
Thirty-one hate groups were based in Colorado in 2022 while five years ago there were 22, the report said.
The report blames male supremacy as a foundation for hate and also warns about the dangers of Christian supremacy and dominion theology that could push the United States toward an authoritarian government.
The Southern Poverty Law Center wants Americans to use the report to learn about extremists working in their cities and counties and to understand the threats to democracy during a presidential election year, said Margaret Huang, the center’s executive director.
“None of this matters if folks aren’t using the data and using it to advance their own rights and the democracy they so deeply care about,” Huang said in a conference call with reporters.
The sovereign citizen movement is anti-government and its followers believe they can separate themselves from local, state and federal laws by declaring they are illegitimate.
The danger is those sovereign citizen beliefs bleed over to other extremists, who want to use those anti-government arguments to promote their beliefs, said Joe Wiinikka-Lydon, the center’s senior research analyst.
“We talk constantly about how these movements just influence each other,” Wiinikka-Lydon said. “These ideas travel very quickly and they travel very broadly.”
The 30 Colorado organizations listed as hate, extremist and anti-government groups are:
American Freedom Network: Conspiracy propagandists, Durango
Asatru Folk Assembly: Neo-völkish, statewide
Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform: Anti-immigration, Lakewood
Colorado Eagle Forum: Anti-government, Brighton
Colorado Parents Involved in Education: Anti-government, statewide
Colorado State Assembly: Sovereign citizen, statewide
Faith Education Commerce: Anti-government, Colorado Springs
Family Research Institute: Anti-LGBTQ, Colorado Springs
Freedom First Society: Anti-government, Colorado Springs
Front Range Active Club/Rocky Mountain Active Club: White nationalist, statewide
Generations: Anti-LGBTQ, Elizabeth
111% United Patriots: Militia movement, Johnstown
Mass Resistance: Anti-LGBTQ, statewide
Moms for Liberty: Anti-government, Boulder, Garfield, Mesa and Weld counties
National Justice Party-Colorado: White nationalist, statewide
National Socialist Resistance Front: Neo-Nazi, statewide
Northern Kingdom Prophets: General hate, Pueblo
Patriot Front: White nationalist, statewide
Proud Boys: General hate, statewide
The American States Assembly: Sovereign citizen, statewide
The Jefferson County Assembly: Sovereign citizen, statewide
The Pray in Jesus Name Project: Anti-LGBTQ, Colorado Springs
United Network News: Conspiracy propagandist, Durango
We Are Change: Anti-government, Denver and Walsenburg
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