On Tuesday (April 21), the Department of Justice indicted the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center on federal fraud charges for allegedly secretly funding the leaders of hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan. The charges against the civil rights organization were announced by acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel at a press conference on Monday.
The indictment has brought the SPLC under the scanner, as the organization, in its long and illustrious history of civil rights litigations, has advocated against White Supremist hate groups. Based on the indictment, cases of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
The DOJ alleged that SPLC ran a program of informants in various hate groups to gather information on their activities. The DOJ alleges that $3 million was paid to informants via the now-defunct program, which amounted to defrauding donors. It claimed that a portion of the money funneled to these groups was used to commit crimes.
“The SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,” Todd Blanche alleged.
Did SPLC Really Fund KKK?
The SPLC has denied the allegations of fraud and said that it will continue to vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, and our work.”
In the indictment, the DOJ alleged that SPLC funneled more than $73,000 to former KKK members as part of the informant program. Other money transfers allegedly include $1 million to National Alliance affiliate; $300,000 to Aryan Nations affiliate; $270,000 for ‘Unite The Right’ group; $140,000 to former National Alliance Chairman, and $19,000 to American Front President.
Dismissing the claims, the SPLC said that they were being targeted by the DOJ. Bryan Fair, the interim CEO of SPLC, said: “The actions by the DOJ will not shake our resolve to fight for justice and ensure the promise of the Civil Rights Movement becomes a reality for all.”
As of now, the specifics of the KKK members that SPLC allegedly funded have not been released.
Trump’s 2017 Charlottesville Rally Row
Donald Trump has faced massive criticism over his alleged defense of the 2017 neo-Nazi rally organized by Unite the Right, one of the groups SPLC allegedly funneled money to. The new DOJ indictment claims that one of the members who planned the rally and was part of the WhatsApp group that organized it, received money from SPLC.
As of now, Unite the Right, the group, has not responded to the allegations. The individual that the DOJ alleged got money from SPLC has not been identified.
