Neo-Nazi group thrives on bad economy

DETROIT, May 12 (UPI) -- The leader of the largest U.S. neo-Nazi group says he plans to use the economic downturn in Detroit to recruit members.

Jeff Schoep, commander of the National Socialist Movement, said even with the city's large African-American and Jewish populations, Detroit makes it ripe for recruitment, The Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

"Detroit's a big city, and the economy is not real good," Schoep said. "Anywhere the economy is bad, people are looking for answers. And I think we provide some."

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League has been monitoring Schoep's group since at least 2004.

Mark Potok, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said that even if the movement is only a couple of hundred people strong, it can't be dismissed.

"All these groups are relatively tiny, but the reality is that a very few people can cause enormous harm," he said.

Schoep said rejects the label of a being an agitator, "We're 100 percent legal. ...We do things by the book."

He added, "We do like Hitler and the way he ran the government," but it's "a misconception that we are bigoted."