I used "hate group" in part because that's the phrase used by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which seems to have done the best job of tracking the activities of the KKK and other white supremacist groups. And--while I agree that a lot of Klan activities absolutely were terrorism--I wouldn't use that phrase for actions like throwing ugly flyers in people's driveways here and I needed an umbrella term for the range of activities in the article.

But I appreciate your giving me an opening to say that Egan uses it for a lot of what he's describing. Thanks!