Long before a mass shooting killed 22 people at a Walmart in Texas, the threat of white supremacy was well known in neighboring Arkansas, where extremist groups over the decades have made their home in the mountains and dense woods of the state’s remote rural areas.
Nonetheless, Arkansas is one of only four states without a specific hate crimes law, declining over the years to follow the national legal trend for combatting ethnic violence as it dealt with other priorities it considered more pressing. The threat posed by hate groups, white supremacists and militias has been highlighted by two recent mass shootings labeled as domestic terrorism by federal authorities.
The largest town, Harrison, population 13,000, was the site of riots in the early 1900s that drove out most of its black population. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, one of several Klan factions, and the white supremacist Kingdom Identity Ministries are based in the Harrison area. The Klan uses a Harrison post office box for its mailing address, while its national director lives a short drive outside town.
“Our problem is that our town struggles with a widespread and long-lasting perception that we are dominated by bigotry and racism,” said a message on the city’s website.
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