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Hate groups on the rise in the US and Michigan

Posted at 5:32 PM, Aug 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-15 09:18:38-04

The events over the weekend in Charlottesville have most of us thinking about hate and healing.

The future could be measured by the number of hate groups on the rise in the United States and here
Michigan.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number last November was 892 in the U.S. and 19 in Michigan. Now, those numbers have grown to 917 in the U.S. and 28 in Michigan.

Former FBI Agent in charge in Detroit Andy Arena says the feds track hate groups. Most people don’t think they are in Michigan... that they are in Alabama or other places in the south.

“They don’t realize they’re right around the corner,” Arena told 7 Investigator Jim Kiertzner.  Arena says he spent 24 years protecting the Constitutional right to Free Speech, but this has gone beyond that with no respect for the other side resulting in violence.

He also says the best way to deal with them is avoid them or ignore them, otherwise they get their message out.

“These people are nuts,” Arena said.