Disturbing photos of the modern-day Ku Klux Klan
The number of hate groups in the U.S. rose for a second straight year in 2016, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. "The radical right was energized by the candidacy of Donald Trump," the SPLC said in a February 2017 news release.
The Ku Klux Klan is the oldest American hate group, and while the number of active KKK chapters declined in 2016, members of the Klan are trying to regain ground. The SPLC estimates there are between 5,000 and 8,000 Klan members nationwide, split between many factions.
Here, a member of the Ku Klux Klan salutes during American Nazi Party rally at Pennsylvania's Valley Forge National Park in September 2004.
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White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
"Unite the Right"
KKK members joined with neo-Nazis, white nationalists and members of the "alt-right" for a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Charlottesville violence
KKK members, neo-Nazis and white nationalists went on the attack during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, August 12, 2017. After clashes with anti-fascist protesters and police the rally was declared an unlawful gathering and disbanded.
Counter-protester Heather Heyer was killed and several others were injured when authorities said one of the white nationalist supporters rammed his car into the crowd.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Charlottesville, Virginia
About 50 Ku Klux Klan members marched on July 8, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, after the city decided to take down a park statue of Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Counter-protesters
Here, a member of the Ku Klux Klan shouts at counter-protesters during the Charlottesville rally in July 2017.
The KKK protesters were far outnumbered by about 1,000 counter-protesters.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Legal rally
The July 2017 rally in Charlottesville was authorized by officials in Virginia and more than 200 state and local police officers patrolled the scene. The city said 23 people were arrested.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Backlash
Shouts of "racists go home" drowned out the handful of Klansmen chanting "white power," local reports said.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Swastika burnings
The KKK and other white supremacists gathered in Georgia to set a cross and Nazi swastika on fire while chanting, "white power," in August 2016.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Kids
Klan members have a history of bringing children to rallies and other gatherings. Here, supporters get police protection at a July 2015 Confederate flag rally in Columbia, South Carolina.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Interviews with media
A member of the Ku Klux Klan, who says his name is Gary Munker, waves to reporters before an interview in Hampton Bays, New York, in November 2016.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
New recruits?
Munker says his local branch of the KKK, which has recently placed recruitment flyers on car windshields on Long Island, has seen around 1,000 enquiries from people interested in joining since the election of Donald Trump.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Cross burnings
Members of the Ku Klux Klan participate in cross burnings after a "white pride" rally near Cedar Town, Georgia, in April 2016.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Ugly pamphlets
In August 2016, residents of Patchogue on Long Island, New York, also found KKK fliers in their community. This picture shows a flier found in Southampton, N.Y. in 2014.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Masks
Two masked Ku Klux Klansmen stand on a muddy dirt road during a December 2016 interview near Pelham, North Carolina.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Violence
Violence broke out at a white-power rally in Anaheim, California on February 27, 2016. Three anti-Klan protesters suffered stab wounds.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
"White pride"
A Ku Klux Klan member sporting swastika tattoos takes part in a Klan demonstration at the statehouse building in Columbia, South Carolina, in July 2015.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Protests
Ku Klux Klan members argue with counter-protesters at a Klan demonstration outside South Carolina's statehouse building in July 2015.
The KKK was protesting the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds and hurled racial slurs at minorities as law enforcement tried to prevent violence between opposing groups.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Demonstrations
Rallies in support of the Confederate flag were held in 26 states around the country.
Here, a member of the Ku Klux Klan gives a Nazi salute as the Klan members fly the Confederate flag during a demonstration at South Carolina's state capitol building in July 2015.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Anti-Obama rallies
Members of the Rosedale, Maryland, Klan rally against the Obama administration at the Maryland's Antietam National Battlefield in September 2013.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Salutes
April Hanson and her husband, Harley Hanson, members of the International Keystone Knights Realm of Georgia, perform a traditional Klan salute along the highway in June 2012.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Rally in Kentucky
Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members march against immigration at the state capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky in April 2012.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Marches
Members of the National Socialists Movement and the Klan march at the state capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, in April 2012.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Cross burnings
Members of the Ku Klux Klan participate in cross burnings after a "White Pride" rally near Cedar Town, Georgia, in April 2016.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Celebrating an early KKK member
Klan members participate in the 11th Annual Nathan Bedford Forrest birthday march in July 2009 in Pulaski, Tennessee.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
A Klan tattoo
A cross is seen on the hand of a member of the Ku Klux Klan, as he participates in the 11th annual Nathan Bedford Forrest birthday march in July 2009 in Pulaski, Tennessee.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
"White Unity Christmas"
Though the KKK and other white supremacist groups don't always agree, they sometimes hold events together.
Here, a man dressed as Santa gives a Nazi salute during a joint "White Unity Christmas Party" held by the American Nazi Party and the Klan in South Carolina in 2009.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Marches
A member of the Ku Klux Klan participates in the 11th annual Nathan Bedford Forrest birthday march in July 2009 in Pulaski, Tennessee.
Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and an early KKK member.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
Robes
A robed and masked Ku Klux Klansman stands on a dirt road during an interview near Pelham, North Carolina, in December 2016.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.
David Duke
White nationalist and former KKK leader David Duke has praised Donald Trump, saying the Trump movement is an "insurgency that is waking up millions of Americans." Trump eventually disavowed him.
White supremacists have a new strategy to camouflage their rhetoric and enter the mainstream. Learn more on CBSN: On Assignment.