In its most recent Year in Hate and Extremism report, the Southern Poverty Law Center found that far-right extremist groups gained new power across the federal government, private tech sector and college campuses over the course of 2025. APR recently spoke with Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director of research, reporting and analysis for SPLC’s Intelligence Project, to learn more about the report’s findings and how they relate to issues currently facing Alabama.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
In your report, you discuss how right-wing extremism has found a new foothold in our federal government and the private tech sector. What sort of trends have we seen in state governments, and specifically in Alabama?…