Regional Overview
United States & Canada
June 2024
Posted: 5 July 2024
United States: Abortion-related demonstrations spike on the second anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson
Around the second anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson — the Supreme Court decision that overturned the federal right to abortion — took place on 24 June, demonstrations in support and against access to abortion took place across the country, leading to a nearly six times increase in such events compared to May. These demonstrations also reflected ongoing legislative and legal battles over abortion taking place across the country. The court dismissed Moyle v. United States on 27 June, temporarily protecting medically necessary abortions in Idaho, and unanimously rejected a lawsuit in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine on 13 June, temporarily protecting access to the commonly used abortion pill mifepristone.1Holly Honderich, ‘Supreme Court rejects challenge to abortion drug mifepristone,’ BBC News, 13 June 2024; John Kruzel, ‘US Supreme Court allows emergency abortions in Idaho for now,’ Reuters, 27 June 2024 Ahead of these two key cases, demonstrations related to abortion were held in at least 30 states and Washington, DC in June. Moreover, demonstrations in support of access to abortion have increased to their highest recorded levels since January 2023 and represented the majority of the abortion-related demonstrations. However, demonstrations against abortion access increased to their highest recorded levels since January of this year. Those in support of access to abortion outnumbered those against it by more than five to one.
United States: Demonstrations in support of the LGBTQ+ community celebrate Pride Month
In honor of Pride Month, demonstrations in support of the LGBTQ+ community almost doubled in June. Pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrations were held in at least 15 states and in Washington, DC, with New York and California recording the largest number of demonstrations. At the same time, demonstrations against the LGBTQ+ community nearly doubled compared to the previous month. However, this spike represents a relatively muted number of anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations during Pride Month compared to recent years: more than eight times as many anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations were recorded in June 2023 compared to June 2024. Demonstrations against the LGBTQ+ community took place in at least five states, including the ‘swing states’ of Georgia and Pennsylvania. Members of the neo-Nazi groups White Lives Matter and Patriot Front participated in a small number of demonstrations against the LGBTQ+ community.
Group Spotlight: The Blood Tribe
On 8 June, the Blood Tribe, a self-described neo-Nazi group, organized its first public demonstration in months outside the state capitol in South Dakota. This demonstration followed the group’s longest period of inactivity since it first appeared in public in 2023. The group’s leader, Christopher Pohlhaus, led the demonstration against a bill that would provide protections against antisemitic discrimination. Clad in their distinctive red shirts, black pants, and black ski masks, about 20 members of the group waved Nazi flags, chanted “Heil, Hitler,” and performed Nazi salutes. ACLED records the Blood Tribe’s first public appearance in March 2023. Since then, the group has organized demonstrations outside synagogues, drag shows, and state capitals. The locations it targets and its ostentatious use of Nazi symbols and chants make the Blood Tribe one of the most brazenly neo-Nazi groups to emerge in recent years.
Pohlhaus, also known as ‘The Hammer,’ is an ex-marine and tattoo artist who had previously helped organize a white nationalist response to the Black Lives Matter movement. He created the Blood Tribe with ambitions of forming an ‘all-white ethnostate.’2Ben Makuch, ‘Neo-Nazi “Building White Ethnostate” in Maine Now Working With Local Extremist Group,’ VICE News, 27 October 2022 In March 2022, he purchased around 10 acres of land in northern Maine to build a paramilitary training ground for white supremacists, with a longer-term goal to “make Maine a [Nazi] state.”3Ben Makuch, ‘Neo-Nazi “Building White Ethnostate” in Maine Now Working With Local Extremist Group,’ VICE News, 27 October 2022 However, a local news exposé caused outrage, and state legislators proposed laws that would ban paramilitary training encampments, leading Pohlhaus to sell the land in October 2023.4Esther Schrader, ‘SPLC, LOCAL JOURNALIST EXPOSE, DERAIL PLAN FOR NEO-NAZI ENCLAVE IN MAINE,’ Southern Poverty Law Center, 5 January 2024; Kathleen Phalen, ‘Neo-Nazi sells Maine property to Massachusetts man,’ Bangor Daily News, 31 October 2023
ACLED data show that the Blood Tribe arrived armed with firearms to around a third of the demonstrations it has organized. Though the group has most commonly focused on nonviolent shows of force, it has fought with members of the Proud Boys and other groups, reflecting divisions between certain Proud Boys chapters and neo-Nazi groups. Though the Blood Tribe first mobilized around anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations, it has recently shifted to focusing on explicit antisemitism, especially following the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023.
For more information ahead of the 2024 elections, see the ACLED’s US Crisis Monitor.
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See the Codebook and the User Guide for an overview of ACLED’s core methodology. For additional documentation, check the Knowledge Base. Region-specific methodology briefs can be accessed below.
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For additional resources and in-depth coverage of demonstration and political violence trends across the US, check our dedicated US Crisis Monitor.
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