A report on a New England-based neo-Nazi group says there could be a connection between the group and the distribution of antisemitic flyers on Cape Cod last year.
The Task Force Butler Institute is a volunteer group of U.S. military veterans who research fascists, white supremacists, and other extremist organizations.
Their latest report, Project Husky, studies the activity of a neo-Nazi group called NSC 131. The Anti-Defamation League says the group "has small chapters based in New England."
Task Force Butler's CEO Kristofer Goldsmith said NSC 131 claims to have distributed thousands of antisemitic flyers across New England last summer.
Last July, Chatham Police reported the discovery of similar flyers in two neighborhoods the same week.
Although Goldsmith linked the incident on the Cape with a different hate group called the Goyim Defense League, he says members are typically affiliated with each other.
“It’s often the same people, sharing materials online, sharing their plan to engage in coordinated propaganda, and a harassment and intimidation campaign," Goldsmith said.
He added these instances are not isolated.
“While these [are] relatively small events in the eyes of local police, there on the Cape, and elsewhere throughout New England, what looks like a small crime, is actually part of something much bigger.”
The Anti-Defamation League lists the Goyim Defense League as a "loose network of individuals connected by their virulent antisemitism."
The report from Task Force Butler calls for local and state law enforcement to work together in their stance against these hate groups and view their crimes as a conspiracy.
Last year, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins told GBH that NSC 131 should be classified as a street gang.