Salon.com | SPLC indictment lends support to hate groups by Austin Sarat
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The Justice Department, led by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, announced an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), accusing it of wire fraud, false statements to a federally‑insured bank, and conspiracy to conceal money laundering tied to the group’s use of paid informants. Blanche framed the move as a crackdown on an organization he claims “manufactures racism” and has become a partisan “smear machine,” positioning the case as part of his broader campaign to prove loyalty to former President Donald Trump and to target perceived political adversaries. The SPLC, founded in 1971 to combat hate groups and civil‑rights violations, has a 55‑year record of securing multimillion‑dollar judgments against white‑supremacist organizations, supporting LGBTQ and disability rights, and developing the widely used “Teaching Tolerance” curriculum. In recent years, conservatives have attacked the SPLC for labeling right‑wing groups as hate or extremist and for its controversial “hate map,” leading FBI Director Kash Patel to sever the bureau’s partnership with the center. The indictment, the second major assault on the SPLC by the Trump administration, reflects a pattern of using fraud charges against opponents, echoing historic governmental attempts to suppress civil‑rights groups, and raises concerns that weakening the SPLC could remove a critical barrier against hate‑motivated violence targeting Black, brown, immigrant, LGBTQ, and disabled communities.
Read more: https://www.salon.com/2026/04/23/splc-indictment-lends-support-to-hate-groups/
#ToddBlanche #DonaldTrump #hategroups #politicalprosecution #PamBondi #MorrisDees #CharlieKirk #KashPatel #BryanFair
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