New York, NY, April 23, 2001 … Labeling the Cincinnati riots the most recent example of so-called "white victimization," racists and white extremists are using the Internet to spread their message of hate among like-minded bigots and to warn of broader repercussions. The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Internet Monitoring Unit, which tracks extremist speech online, has noted a marked increase in online discussions and postings on racist Web sites as a result of the racial protests in Cincinnati.

"The haters predictably are using Cincinnati as a rallying call on the Internet to their cohorts or anyone else who will listen," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "The Internet has enabled the racists to communicate, to compare notes and to spread racial hatred in the wake of the Cincinnati riots. The riots have become a major focus of the online activity of bigots."

The ADL Internet Monitoring Unit has recently tracked numerous messages on Web sites, bulletin boards and e-mails posted by racists, including:

• The Aryan Nations Web site, which observed: "roving gangs of sub-human beasts Burn Plunder & Pillage the city. Kinsfolk, you had better be prepared … it’s going to be a LONG, HOT, SUMMER!"

• World Church of the Creator leader Matt Hale, after forwarding news articles under the headings "Niggers Pillage Cincinnati" and "Niggers Continue Savagery," e-mailed his supporters about the possibility of holding a public meeting there. World Church of the Creator, a virulently anti-Semitic and racist group, boasts more than two dozen chapters in the United States and overseas.

• The leader of the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP), Reno Wolfe, claims to have traveled in Cincinnati to "rally" his "members" and "supporters." Wolfe planned to ask city officials to press hate crime charges against those arrested during the rioting. The NAAWP demanded that "the City of Cincinnati pay for all those medical bills and therapy as required for each and every victim of the black-on-white rioting." The group cited Mayor Charles Luken as "likely motivation for the racial rioting," claiming that it may call for a "recall election."

• The National Organization for European American Rights (NOFEAR), an organization founded and led by white supremacist and former Klansman David Duke, called for the prosecution of Black rioters and blamed the Cincinnati media for creating a "climate of racial hatred" against Whites. "Never has there been a more blatant case of racially motivated crime than these attacks on innocent Whites in Cincinnati last week," wrote NOFEAR National Community Relations Director Vincent Edwards in a letter to Ohio State Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery, which was published on the Internet. "We are asking you to send a strong message that attacks against Whites will be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

EDITORS NOTE: For additional information on hate on the Internet and to arrange interviews with ADL experts contact the Media Relations Department via email or via telephone at (212) 885-7749.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.