White supremacist fliers have been littering RI streets for years. What the trends say.

Incidents of white supremacists spreading propaganda decreased in Rhode Island last year, although such activity increased nationally, reaching another record, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League.

The ADL recorded 99 incidents in Rhode Island last year, compared with 142 in 2022.

Nationally, the ADL recorded 7,567 cases, the most it has ever recorded, marking a 12% increase from the 6,746 incidents in 2022.

The incidents included the distribution of racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ fliers, stickers, banners, graffiti, posters and laser projections, the ADL says.

"Propaganda campaigns are hugely popular among white supremacist groups and movements because they provoke media and online attention for the groups and messaging while limiting the risk of individual exposure, arrests and public backlash that often accompany more public activities," the ADL said in an overview of its report.

"Propaganda, which can affect entire communities, allows a small number of people to have an outsized impact," the ADL said.

Which groups were most active in Rhode Island?

The two most active groups in Rhode Island were the Patriot Front, responsible for 88 incidents, and the Nationalist Social Club, with nine incidents, according to Shellie Burgman, a spokesman for the ADL.

The Patriot Front, based in Texas, is responsible for most of white supremacist propaganda in America, according to the ADL. Its members "maintain that their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it to them and no one else," the ADL says. The Nationalist Social Club, also called NSC-131, is a neo-Nazi group based in New England, according to the ADL.

Burgman said "the decrease in white supremacist propaganda distribution (in Rhode Island) demonstrates the outsized impact small groups of individuals can have through activities" like distributing flyers.

"While groups like Patriot Front distributed less propaganda overall in the region, they staged large, highly visible protests in the Northeast and in other parts of the country in 2023," she said.

The ADL started tracking white supremacist propaganda in 2017.