The Associated Press
CHARLESTON -- A Pocahontas County organization is the "single most dangerous organized hate group in America," a national civil rights group says.
The National Alliance, headed by William Pierce in Mill Point, is "an alliance of bigots and bombers thriving on hate," said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
Foxman's group on Thursday released a 46-page report, "Explosion of Hate: The Growing Danger of the National Alliance." The publication outlines the group's objections to the National Alliance, blaming several criminal incidents on Pierce's group.
The report alleges that the National Alliance is linked to a series of crimes, including 22 bank robberies committed by a group of white supremacists and the Oklahoma City bombing.
The report also said the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 was "eerily reminiscent" of a fictional bombing scene in a book by Pierce.
Pierce told The Charleston Gazette the report was unfair.
"Now what have I done to merit that kind of notice?" he asked.
Foxman said that Pierce and his group are dangerous because they believe they have the right to "carry out acts of violence against Jews, blacks and democracy."
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a national organization that monitors hate groups, has called the National Alliance the fastest growing hate group in the nation.
The National Alliance has about 1,000 members in 11 states and its web site gets about 12,000 visitors a day, the report said.