Which U.S. states had active Ku Klux Klan chapters holding public events in 2024–2025?
Executive summary
Reporting from organizations that track extremist groups shows the Ku Klux Klan remained present and staging public activity in 2024–2025, with the ADL identifying 42 Klan-affiliated groups active across 33 states and the SPLC documenting ongoing reconfigurations and smaller, localized chapters [1] [2]. Independent reporting and incident logs from 2024–2025 show public-facing actions — flyers, meetings and local demonstrations — in states including Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and others concentrated in the South and East [3] [4] [1] [5].
1. What the major trackers say: national footprint and counts
The Anti-Defamation League reports 42 Klan groups active in 33 states and roughly 3,000 members/affiliates as of mid‑2024, with activity concentrated in southern and eastern states — especially Alabama and Mississippi — and many groups recently formed [1]. The Southern Poverty Law Center documents continued Klan presence into 2024 and describes a fracturing of older national factions into smaller, localized klaverns, noting both weakened national organizations and pockets of revitalized chapters [2].
2. Evidence of public events and local outreach in 2024–2025
Contemporary reporting documents concrete public-facing actions: the Guardian and regional outlets reported Klan flyers telling immigrants to “leave now” distributed across Kentucky on inauguration day 2025, which prompted police investigations [3]. Local reporting in Tennessee described distribution of more than 2,000 flyers linked to a named Klan faction and noted community alarm and organized responses [4]. A gallery listing also advertises a “Ku Klux Klan New Member Meeting, Kentucky, May, 2025,” indicating meetings occurred publicly enough to be photographed and sold [6].
3. Geographic pattern: where activity has been documented
Trackers and reporting point to a regional concentration rather than uniform national resurgence. The ADL explicitly names Alabama and Mississippi as focal points and says Klan activity exists in 33 states overall [1]. The World Population Review and other compilations reinforce that states such as Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee have higher concentrations of Klan activity historically and into 2025 [5]. Kentucky and Tennessee appear in multiple incident reports in 2024–2025 tied to flyers and meetings [3] [4] [6].
4. How “active” is being counted — groups vs. chapters vs. events
Definitions matter: the ADL counts “groups” and the SPLC maps “chapters” and klaverns; both note fragmentation and frequent turnover, meaning a state can host activity even if only a small, newly formed klavern is present [1] [2]. The SPLC frames 2024 as a year of reconfiguration with major factions fading and smaller chapters taking different forms, which complicates a single definitive list of active states [2].
5. Limitations in the record and reporting gaps
Available sources do not provide a consistent, state-by-state list of every public event in 2024–2025; the ADL gives aggregate counts and the SPLC gives organizational context, but neither publishes a fully detailed, contemporaneous checklist of every public event per state in the reporting provided here [1] [2]. Local incidents documented in news reporting — e.g., flyers and meetings in Kentucky and Tennessee — establish activity but do not alone create a comprehensive national inventory [3] [4] [6].
6. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas
Extremism trackers emphasize public safety and the threat posed by organized hate groups; the ADL characterizes the Klan as “active” in 33 states [1]. The SPLC highlights fragmentation and shrinking of larger factions, suggesting some decline in centralized power but continued local visibility [2]. Some commentary and niche outlets portray contemporary Klan activity as more symbolic or marginal compared with other white-supremacist movements; those viewpoints are reflected indirectly in analyses emphasizing splintering and reduced national coordination [2] [1].
7. Bottom line for readers seeking a list of states
Available, cited reporting establishes that Klan-affiliated groups staged public events, distributed flyers, or held meetings in multiple states in 2024–2025, with clear documented incidents in Kentucky and Tennessee and broader concentrations in Alabama and Mississippi; the ADL states activity across 33 states overall [3] [4] [6] [1]. A definitive, source‑verified checklist naming each state that held public Klan events in 2024–2025 is not included in the materials provided here — trackers give nationwide tallies and local outlets report individual incidents, but a fully enumerated state-by-state public-events list is not found in current reporting [1] [2].