The Southern Poverty Law Center is currently tracking 12 hate groups in Mississippi. The Alabama-based organization monitors how hate groups and other extremists spread across the country.
President Donald Trump did not denounce white supremacy at the first presidential debate Tuesday night and told the right-wing extremist group "Proud Boys" to stand down and stand by. Proud Boys do not currently have a chapter in Mississippi, but Cassie Miller, research analyst at SPLC, says the President's words could cause the organization to spread.
"I'm hesitant to say that we're going to get armed vigilantes, armed white supremacists who are prowling the streets on election day, but I think there is a lot of mobilization among the far-right, and we need to be paying a lot of attention, and we need to be prepared to confront that kind of issue if it does come to pass," says Miller.
The Proud Boys do have groups in Louisiana and Alabama.
Governor Tate Reeves, who is a staunch supporter of the President, was asked whether he condemns white nationalist groups at Wednesday's press briefing.
"Yes, I condemn white nationalist groups. I watched the debate last night, and I saw this past week and actually tweeted about it, wherein the President condemned both the KKK and Antifa as terrorist groups, and I supported his effort to do so," says Reeves.
Among the hate groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Mississippi are the KKK, Neo-Confederate, Anti-LGBT and black separatist.
