'Senseless hate': the far right's deep roots in southern California
The Poway synagogue shooting is far from the first time California’s Jewish communities faced threats, as rightwing groups date as far back as the 1920s
The murderous attack on the Poway synagogue in San Diego last weekend may have shattered some people’s image of southern California as a sunny, liberal enclave. But the region has for decades been an incubator of far-right politics, and it’s far from the first time its Jewish communities have faced violent threats.
“Hate groups and hate activity run pretty deep in southern California, and have for a very long time,” said Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “This activity is deeply rooted in Orange county and northern San Diego,” she added.
Origins of the far right in southern California
In the 1920s, far-right groups had a strong presence in San Diego and Los of the Klan in the 1920s and 1930s.
