ORLANDO, Fla. — A few participants in an antisemitic demonstration — who authorities say got into a fight with a University of Central Florida student over the weekend — are expected to face charges.

Charges for at least three people are forthcoming from Saturday’s incident, according to Orange County Sheriff John Mina. 

More than 15 people participated in an antisemitic demonstration at Alafaya Trail and Waterford Lakes Parkway Saturday, outside a shopping plaza near UCF. At one point, a group of them got into a fight with a driver passing by, and hit and spit on a UCF student, Mina said.

Saturday’s demonstration was followed by another antisemitic demonstration Sunday on the side of the Daryl Carter Parkway overpass.

Then on Monday, someone pledging ties to a neo-Nazi group allegedly made bomb and shooting threats targeting Bethune-Cookman University, according to information from the Daytona Beach Police Department.

Mark Winton, senior lecturer at UCF’s Department of Criminal Justice, said neo-Nazi groups have had a spike in recruitment in recent years thanks to the internet and social media.  

“Hate groups have become experts at using social media, at recruiting, at radicalizing,” he said. 

Winton said the internet presence makes them harder to track.

“They can change their name, they can change their domains, they can change their websites very rapidly as well, and so it’s become a big challenge for the criminal justice system in many ways,” he said.

Winton said the level of violence can vary among the different neo-Nazi groups, but the threat looms.

“When you get violent predation — that they go beyond violent behavior to the extremes of violent behavior — we’re in a very dangerous situation,” he said.

Winton recommends every law enforcement agency have someone dedicated to investigating hate crimes, so they can help monitor and curb them. 

He also recommended avoiding politicizing hate crimes — which he says he saw following last weekend’s demonstrations.

“That’s what the hate crime groups want, they want that,” he said. “They sit back there, eating their popcorn, watching this going, ‘Hey look, we got these politicians fighting with each other.’ That’s a bad place to be.”