Our Approach

A. Actionable Data

Our Defending Democracy Data Lab is at the heart of IREHR’s effort to disrupt, defund, and decouple far-right efforts to march from the margins to the mainstream. Being a data-first organization allows us to quickly identify far-right movement shifts and trends, which allows for rapid response and countermobilization.

Among the things we hope to accomplish this year:

• Conducting research and expanding our archive of materials on far-right movements, organizations, and leaders.
• Providing even more data access to human rights activists, journalists, academics, and others.
• Enhancing a research network of local activists trained to assist in data collection and reporting.
• Mapping far-right groups (real world and online). Publishing new reports and articles on the latest threats.
  • Work with tech professionals to develop new data collection techniques. Conduct online workshops on new data techniques.

B. People Power

IREHR will put its data and analysis to work to unmask far-right organizing and mobilize opposition. Whether it be violent anti-trans mob attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community, book banners and Black history blockers, movements actively girded by antisemitic conspiracy theories, armed paramilitary groups threatening migrants, or unforeseen new threats, IREHR will be there. IREHR helps communities and social justice advocates think about and identify those who are being targeted by, or who are susceptible to the messages of the far-right – an essential first step to effective counteraction.

Opposition to far-right organizing must be built and integrated into the daily lives and work of all folks who care about advancing real equality and human dignity. Consequently, IREHR intentionally seeks opportunities to partner with a range of justice, labor, faith and community leaders to, not only increase understanding of the movement and its threat, but also train on standing up to the danger of the far-right and its ideas. As Solomon Burke says in the anthem, None of Us Are Fee: “If you don’t say it’s wrong, well that says it’s right.” Visible opposition matters.

Our Projects

Specifically, IREHR foresees the following opportunities to implement our approach to growing effective state and local counteraction to far-right organizing.

The Breach Project

To quantify the extent to which far-right groups have entered the mainstream, IREHR launched the Breach Project in 2022, with the publication of the groundbreaking study, Breaching the Mainstream: A National Survey of Far-Right Membership in State Legislatures. Initial data suggests the problem continues to worsen and requires an examination of the 2024 class of state legislators and the policies they’ve promoted.

Among the items we’re working on:

• A new edition of Breaching the Mainstream: A National Survey of Far-Right Membership in State Legislatures.
• Briefings on report findings, including partners, such as labor/environmental/consumer activists engaged in state-level policy battles.
• Working with partners and other local groups to identify, monitor, and expose other far-right encroachment into state/local government, including school boards, county commissions, city councils, etc.

Law Enforcement Accountability Project

For years, the far-right has targeted law enforcement as potential recruits and enforcers. In the wake of Black Lives Matter demonstrations that saw millions of Americans demanding police accountability, far-right groups intensified efforts to recruit so-called “Constitutional Sheriffs.”

This year, we hope to do the following:

• Tracking far-right law enforcement recruiting groups, including the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, and Protect America Now.
• Mapping the presence of “Constitutional Sheriffs” across the country.
• Filing Freedom Of Information Act Requests in problem counties to identify the depth of activity.
• Assisting local groups challenging “Constitutional Sheriffs” in their counties.
• Preventing states from providing Continuing Education Credits to law enforcement attending far-right “Constitutional Sheriff” training.

Election Protection Project

In 2022, far-right voter suppression efforts surged. Stirred by the release of the phony documentary 2,000 Mules, armed far-right paramilitary groups camped out near ballot drop boxes to deter voters in the name of “voter integrity.” The drumbeat of election conspiracies also resulted in the passage of more restrictions on voting rights in 2023 and continues heading into 2024.

IREHR brings a set of very specific skills in the fight to protect elections around our ability to granularly track far-right efforts to suppress the vote, intimidate people at ballot drop boxes, armed intimidation, “Constitutional Sheriff” intervention, etc.

We will coordinate our findings with groups protecting voting rights, including the NAACP, to stop voter suppression efforts.

Defeating the Anti-Vaccine Movement

Anti-vaccine sentiment continues to be a significant entry point onto the far-right radicalization conveyor belt. It also poses substantial public health risks by increasing skepticism of vaccines, decreasing vaccine usage, and spreading conspiracy theories often laden with antisemitic tropes.

Working in close collaboration with partners on the frontlines countering anti-vaccine conspiracies and misinformation, we hope to:

• Hold a How to Defeat the Anti-Vaccine Movement Boot Camp (virtual and/or in-person). The popular multipart training explores the movement in its current form, evaluates its impact, and engages participants in finding creative new strategies for defeating it.
• Publish a report: The State of the Anti-Vaccine Movement. A detailed look at the network of national and state groups, influencers, and platforms of the post-COVID anti-vaccine movement. The report will follow the money to explore how the movement is funded, unmask the leadership of the groups, map network dynamics, and highlight new trends.
• Develop a new Toolkit: Strategies and Best Practices on Deafeating the Anti-Vaccine Movement. Success stories. How-to guides on everything from letter-to-the-editor writing to public education campaigns against anti-vaccine efforts.(Think of this as a textbook for the second part of the boot camp.)
• Monthly Update sessions.
• Ongoing Social listening/Research
• Additional consultation with groups facing particular challenges.

Generation Next Project

While the next generation is vital to solving many of our daunting challenges—from the assault on democracy to the climate crisis—they face significant threats. On the one hand, white nationalists and other far-rightists are developing new ways to recruit young people. At the same time, far-right organizations led by adults are using “parental rights” to squash dialogue around racism and punish differences.

We strive to continue to:

• Research, write, and publish a report on the state of white nationalist groups targeting young people, such as the Groypers.
• Track attacks on schools, curricula, libraries, and school boards
• Train students in research techniques through the IREHR internship program.