Racism in America: Ku Klux Klan Members Can't Stop Fighting, So Their Activities Are 'Dwindling'

Ku Klux Klan members can't stop fighting each other, and it's starting to take a toll on their hateful rhetoric. A new report released by the Anti-Defamation League Thursday found KKK activity was down from 86 altercations in 2015 to 78 in 2016, while only 39 incidents have been reported so far in 2017.

The report, Despite Internal Turmoil, Klan Groups Persist, found the white supremacist group was still functioning in 33 states in the U.S. However, the decrease in their activity, which is mostly comprised of distributing hateful, racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and homophobic literature, may be due to the declining number of people affiliated with the organization. Although there were 42 groups that were linked to KKK propaganda that was distributed within the last 18 months, the report said the majority of the existing groups have less than 25 active members.

The report blamed friction within the organization for the "dwindling" memberships and staged activities, citing distrust between members and fleeting leadership as the primary causes of disruption within the group. Disputes on social media between Klansmen and imperial wizards (IWs), supposedly the highest ranking member of KKK chapters across America, reflect diminishing stability within the group, the report said.

In recent times, there have been a number of people to hold the imperial wizard title in KKK active states, seemingly causing disputes among members. The report included the example of a Pennsylvania Klansman, Joe Mulligan, who called out the flailing leadership within the organization in a Facebook post.

"This is no disrespect to any true IWs, but there is more imperial wizards on Facebook then there is at Hogwarts Academy," he wrote.

Despite the decrease in activity, the few remaining KKK members are still hell-bent on disseminating messages against groups and issues related to Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQ community and transgender restrooms, immigration, Islam and the removal of Confederate symbols in public places, the report said.

"The Ku Klux Klan movement is small and fractured, but still poses a threat to society," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement to USA Today. "These hardened racists and bigots are looking to spread fear, and if they grow dissatisfied with the Klan, they move on to other groups on the extreme far right. There's lots of instability and unpredictability in the Klan movement."

Regardless of tension within the organization, members have continued their recruitment efforts. Recently in New York State, police confirmed Klan members had been leaving bags of kitty litter and KKK recruitment pamphlets on people's lawns in the city of Northville, according to New York's ABC News 10.