Top 10 Hatewatch posts of 2017

And for you, the readers, it could sometimes be a harrowing experience to follow along as we monitor and expose the doings on the American radical right. Here are the 10 most read blog posts from 2017. Let’s see what 2018 brings at Hatewatch.

1. New "Fight Club" Ready for Street Violence
A new fight club “fraternity” of young white, pro-Trump men is being formed, its organizers claim, to defend free-speech rights by “Alt-Right” leaders and engage in street fighting.

2. League of the South Announces Formation of ‘Southern Defense Force’
Edging closer to militancy, the neo-Confederate League of the South says it's forming a force to combat the 'leftist menace to our historic Christian civilization.'

3. What the Kek: Explaining the Alt-Right 'Deity' Behind Their 'Meme Magic'
A satirical religion with a frog-headed god has become a favorite new way for white nationalists to troll liberals, while spreading their meme-driven strategy.

4. Flags and Other Symbols Used By Far-Right Groups in Charlottesville
The so-called “Unite The Right” rally organized by white nationalist Jason Kessler in Charlottesville, Virginia, has succeeded in drawing out a diversity of far-right groups ranging from white nationalists to armed “Patriot” groups.

5. Man Who Fired Weapon At Charlottesville Counterprotesters Identified as Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard
A man arrested for firing a pistol at counterprotesters during the “United the Right” rally in Virginia earlier this month has been identified as the Imperial Wizard of the Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

6. How the Myth of the "Irish slaves" Became a Favorite Meme of Racists Online
Propaganda is cheap to produce on the web. And a purposeful lie in an age of "viral content" not only can race around the world in a day but resurface time and time again with surprising resiliency.

7. Alt-Right Event in Seattle Devolves Into Chaos and Violence Outside, Truth-Twisting Inside
Antifascist protester shot by Trump supporter amid mass counterprotest on UW campus, but Yiannopoulos spins a tale of martyrdom to his audience at end of speaking tour.

8. Former Executive Director of Anti-Immigrant Hate Group FAIR Joins Trump Administration
Julie Kirchner, the former executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), has been named chief of staff at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

9. Four Transgender Murders in a Week "Alarming Trend"
In the past week, four transgender black women have been murdered in the United States — a trend that’s alarming civil rights and anti-violence advocates.

10. Daily Stormer Troll Army Threatens CNN Staffers Over Reddit User Behind Trump/CNN GIF
Andrew Auernheimer, the notorious hacker and Internet troll known as ‘Weev,’ rallied the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer’s troll army for its latest campaign this morning, claiming that CNN was blackmailing a “teen shitposter.”