The number of anti-Muslim hate groups more than tripled in the US

2016 was a "banner year for hate," a recent study has confirmed, and in the United States a lot of that hate was directed at Muslims. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, has recently released its annual "Year in Hate" report, documenting hate groups in the U.S. 

According to the SPLC report, 2016 saw the highest number of anti-Muslim hate groups and the greatest surge in the number of such groups since the center began documenting them in 2010. 

In case it ever slipped our minds, here's a reminder that Islamophobia is alive and well in Donald Trump's America.

There were 34 anti-Muslim hate groups in the U.S. in 2015. That number tripled to a whopping 101 groups in 2016, a surge of 197 percent – the greatest increase among all hate groups.

The report explained that these hate groups portray Muslims as "fundamentally alien," depicting the American-Muslim community as a danger to the country. They attribute an inherent set of negative traits to Muslims, including irrationality, intolerance and violence. 

These organizations strongly believe that Muslims are collaborating to establish the Islamic legal system, shariah law, in the U.S.

The center created an interactive map called the "Hate Map," which documents the location of hate groups, sorted by type.  The above map reveals where anti-Muslim hate groups are found in the U.S.

The report found a 3% increase in active hate groups in the U.S. since 2015. SPLC found 917 hate groups in 2016, which is just 100 groups shy of the all-time high recorded by the center in 2011.

The author of the report, Mark Potok, holds President Trump accountable for energizing hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan groups and other White supremacist groups.

"Trump’s run for office electrified the radical right, which saw in him a champion of the idea that America is fundamentally a white man's country," Potok writes.

Potok believes that the leap in the number of anti-Muslim groups is not surprising, citing radical Islamist attacks and "the unrelenting propaganda of a growing circle of well-paid ideologues". 

He also blames Trump's provocative anti-Muslim rhetoric, illustrated by his threats to ban Muslim immigration and implement a Muslim registry in the country.

Hate group activities can include criminal acts, rallies, speeches, meetings, sharing leafleting or other forms of publishing.

According to the SPLC, two of the most influential anti-Muslim groups in the U.S. – ACT for America and Center for Security Policy – have sought to develop close ties with elected officials and influence policy-making.

Some groups also plot attacks on Muslims. Last October, three members of a militia-like group called the Crusaders were charged with planning to blow up a complex in Kansas housing 120 Somali Muslim immigrants.

The report is not the first to demonstrate the rise of Islamophobia in the West. Last year, the FBI revealed that reported hate crimes against Muslims shot up by 67 percent between 2014 and 2015, reaching the highest level since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S.

A recent survey also found that U.S. adults hold the most negative views toward Muslims compared to followers of other major religions.

Earlier this week, white nationalists were reported posting "Imagine a Muslim-free America" fliers on American college campuses, including the University of Texas, the University of Central Florida and Rutgers University.