The indictment, which was handed up by a federal grand jury in Alabama, charges the organization with 11 BS counts, including bank fraud, wire fraud, & conspiracy to commit money laundering.
#ToddBlanche told reporters Tuesday that between 2014 & 2023 #SPLC paid at least $3 million to 8 people, including affiliates of the #KuKluxKlan & #Nazi parties in the #US.
#law #Trump #DOJ #DomesticTerrorism #extremism #WhiteSupremacy #MaleSupremacy #heterosexism #racism #sexism #PoliticalViolence
Southern Poverty Law Center indicted over alleged use of paid informants in #extremist groups
The #SPLC was indicted Tuesday over a discontinued program that used paid confidential informants to penetrate white supremacist & other organizations, Acting Attorney General #ToddBlanche announced.
#law #Trump #DOJ #DomesticTerrorism #extremism #WhiteSupremacy #MaleSupremacy #heterosexism #racism #sexism #WhiteChristianNationalism #PoliticalViolence #CivilRights
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/politics/splc-justice-department-criminal-investigation?cid=ios_app
The Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted Tuesday over a discontinued program that used paid confidential informants to penetrate white supremacist and other organizations, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced.
#House #Republicans hosted a hearing centered on the #SPLC in December, saying it coordinated efforts with President Joe Biden’s Democratic admin “to target Christian & conservative Americans & deprive them of their constitutional rights to free speech & free association.” [only if they’re planning or performing acts of #violence & then all they do is report them & publish articles about them… so???]
#law #Trump #DOJ #DomesticTerrorism #extremism #heterosexism #racism #sexism #PoliticalViolence
#FBI Dir #KashPatel said last year that the agency was severing its relationship with the #SPLC, which had long provided law enforcement with research on #HateCrime & domestic #extremism. Patel said the SPLC had been turned into a “partisan smear machine,” & accused it of defaming “mainstream Americans” with its “hate map” that documents alleged anti-government & hate groups inside the US.
#law #Trump #DomesticTerrorism #heterosexism #racism #sexism #WhiteChristianNationalism #PoliticalViolence
The Southern Poverty Law Center has faced intense criticism from #conservatives, who have accused it of unfairly maligning right-wing organizations as #extremist groups because of their viewpoints [you know the viewpoints of — #WhiteSupremacy #MaleSupremacy #heterosexism #WhiteChristianNationalism etc]. The #SPLC regularly condemns #Trump’s rhetoric & policies around #VotingRights, #immigration & other issues.
#law #DOJ #DomesticTerrorism #extremism #racism #sexism #PoliticalViolence
The investigation could add to concerns that the #Trump Republican admin is using the #DOJ to go after #conservative opponents & his critics. It follows a number of other investigations into Trump foes that have raised questions about whether the law enforcement agency has been turned into a political weapon.
#law #DomesticTerrorism #extremism #WhiteSupremacy #MaleSupremacy #heterosexism #racism #sexism #WhiteChristianNationalism #PoliticalViolence #CivilRights
He said the organization “will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, & our work.”
The #SPLC, which is based in Montgomery, Alabama, was founded in 1971 & used civil litigation to fight #WhiteSupremacist groups. The nonprofit has become a popular target among #Republicans who see it as overly leftist & partisan [because #WhiteSupremacy is a-okay with Republicans].
#law #Trump #DOJ #DomesticTerrorism #extremism #heterosexism #racism #sexism #WhiteChristianNationalism #PoliticalViolence
“When we began working with informants, we were living in the shadow of the height of the #CivilRights Movement, which had seen bombings at churches, state-sponsored #violence against demonstrators, & the murders of activists that went unanswered by the justice system,” Fair said. “There is no question that what we learned from informants saved lives.”
#law #Trump #DOJ #DomesticTerrorism #extremism #WhiteSupremacy #MaleSupremacy #heterosexism #racism #sexism #WhiteChristianNationalism
The #SPLC previously paid informants to infiltrate #extremist groups & gather information on their activities, often sharing it with local & federal law enforcement, Fair said. It was used to monitor threats of #violence, he said, adding that the program was kept quiet to protect the safety of informants.
#law #Trump #DOJ #DomesticTerrorism #extremism #WhiteSupremacy #MaleSupremacy #heterosexism #racism #sexism #WhiteChristianNationalism #PoliticalViolence #CivilRights
Nonilex