SWC Commends US State Department In Preparing “Foreign Terrorist Designation (FTO)” For Violent White Supremacist Group

March 9, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to a published report (Politico) indicating that the US Department of State is preparing a “Foreign Terrorist Designation (FTO)” for at least one violent white supremacist group, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, today released the following statement. 

“The Simon Wiesenthal Center, on behalf of its 400,000 constituent families, welcomes word that the State Department is preparing to designate one violent White supremacist group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). We are hopeful that the efforts by Chairman Rose and Rep. Tom Reed will lead the State Department to extend the FTO designation to several other international neo-Nazi and White supremacist groups. We commend Chairman Rose’s tenacious leadership in fighting bigotry and anti-Semitism here at home and around the world.”

“FTO designations will also enable authorities to increase their efforts to better track activities of the US-based groups promoting the same violent and hateful agendas including on social media," Rabbi Cooper concluded.

Last week, Chairman Rose participated in the Capitol Hill release of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s 2020 Digital Terrorism and Hate Report. The report exposes the growing number of platforms available to violent extremists, including lone wolf domestic terrorists.

For further information, please contact the Center’s Communications Department 310.553.9036 or pressinquiries@wiesenthal.com join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over 400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).