With roughly 114 hate and anti-government groups active in Florida last year, Jeff Tischauser, senior research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), said Floridians should remain vigilant and report any threatening activity in their communities.

“You'll find members of these groups laughing about the psychological trauma that they inflict on people,” Tischauser said. “They want to just kind of terrorize folks.”

SPLC is a nonprofit legal organization focused on tracking, exposing and fighting hate and anti-government extremist groups. Tischauser said hate groups focus on “vilifying” people based on immutable characteristics like race and gender, while anti-government groups push conspiracies largely surrounding the federal government.That number is an increase from the 89 hate and anti-government groups identified in Florida in 2022, and the 53 in 2021.

SPLC teams track and fight prominent extremist groups with a large Florida presence, such as 2119 Blood and Soil Crew, Aryan Freedom Network, Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty.Tischauser said SPLC identifies groups through methods like community tips and research. From there, SPLC fights against them by pursuing legal action, which can lead to bankruptcy or disbandment of the group, or exposing them to the public through articles and maps.

SPLC research analyst Maya Carey is a part of the intelligence project, which focuses on tracking and exposing hate group activity. One big concern her team found in Florida was the activity of Moms for Liberty, an anti-student inclusion group focused on fighting for “parental freedom” that was founded in Florida. The group had 32 active chapters in the state last year.

Tischauser said many members of Moms for Liberty, Proud Boys and other hate groups run for school board elections and small political positions that don’t take a lot of votes to win.Although many Moms for Liberty members who ran for school board seats and small offices last November lost, Carey said citizens shouldn’t let their guard down as the group is “strongest in Florida.”

One of Moms for Liberty’s prime attacks on the LGBTQ community is around Title IX. The law prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities, but Moms for Liberty believes transgender girls and women should be excluded from these protections.Many members of Moms for Liberty use their “tight” relationship with the Department of Education to advocate their extremist beliefs, such as book bans and Critical Race Theory erasure. Carey said these book bans typically target people of color or LGBTQ themes and history.“They are monopolizing on the fear of parents,” she said. 

By pushing these extreme agendas in school, Carey said Moms for Liberty is enforcing misinformation and harmful stereotypes.“They are trying to control how minority students are reflected in these schools … they have this very limited view of how Black and brown people contributed to this country and the respect that LGBTQ students deserve,” she said. “I think that's very troubling when you're trying to, and I'm going to use their word, ‘indoctrinate’ these kids with these very narrow views of society.”

To combat these agendas, Carey said SPLC has a legal team that focuses on children’s rights and represents families who were impacted by bills such as Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” and “Stop W.O.K.E. Act.”Though their extreme policies should frighten Floridians, Carey said there hasn’t been an uptick in activity from the group this year.In fact, that good news doesn’t stop at Moms for Liberty: hate group activity in general decreased in June. SPLC saw less physical activity outside of pride month rallies and drag shows.

Tischauser said the decline could be attributed to the election year, as many organizations focus on attending rallies and pushing for political policies. He said it might also be because some group leaders are facing legal liabilities from the past couple of years.Though hate group activity is down so far, Tischauser said it doesn’t mean it won’t spike later in the year, and it doesn’t make their actions any less threatening. Aryan Freedom Network held small rallies outside public areas such as Disney World and Nascar events this year, “handing out flyers and shouting down anybody who confronts them.”

Aside from physical rallies, Tischauser said the number of fliers posted by extremist groups has seen a drastic increase. Last year, 116 racist flyers were posted by hate groups in Florida communities, which was an 84% increase from 2018.Florida is among the top states targeted using this public posting tactic. Tischauser said hate groups use this strategy for straightforward reasons: it’s simple and effective.

So, what next? Carey said people should be alert for these groups spreading election misinformation in hopes fearmongering leads to votes.“I would just encourage everyone to be very vigilant about that, and to learn as much as they can about candidates and narratives and platforms,” she said.