Leaflets from the National Socialist Movement (NSM), a neo-Nazi group, have again been seen posted in the Grand Rapids area. The flyers posted in Grand Rapids attempt to blame immigrants for job loss and are using the anti-immigrant hysteria promoted by the Minuteman as a means of gaining new recruits. Last summer, the NSM leafleted a Westside community and according to reports on the NSM’s Michigan Unit website, an active chapter has formed in Grand Rapids that claims to have distributed thousands of flyers around the city.

The recent flyering comes as part of an increase in organized neo-Nazi activity in Grand Rapids with racist graffiti, leafleting, and the attendance of Grand Rapids residents at a neo-Nazi march in Toledo last October. The NSM is also planning its national rally for April 22 in Lansing and has extended invitations to various other neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and Ku Klux Klan groups. Nationally, the NSM has increased its activity over the past year and has consequently become one of the largest neo-Nazi groups following the internal conflicts that have largely destroyed the National Alliance (it’s worth noting that the National Alliance was active in Grand Rapids in 2005 and in 2004).

According to monitoring by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Michigan has 22 hate groups with the majority being neo-Nazi groups and groups affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. While their data does not list any groups in the Grand Rapids area, within an hours drive there are chapters of the National Alliance, National Socialist Movement, and the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.