A grand jury has indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for allegedly giving $3 million to individuals tied to extremist groups it claims to oppose, including the Ku Klux Klan, as the far-left nonprofit condemns the allegations as the product of a “weaponized” federal government.
In a statement Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, indicted SPLC on 11 counts, including wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
SPLC, a prominent nonprofit, identifies itself as “a beacon of hope, fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to help create a multiracial democracy where we can all live and thrive.”
The indictment alleges that “unbeknownst to donors, some of their donated money was being used to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance.”
The court document, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on Tuesday, also states that “the SPLC’s paid informants (‘field sources’) engaged in the active promotion of racist groups at the same time the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website.”
The indictment outlines $3 million in payments made to informants, including $270,000 to an individual who was part of the “online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ event in Charlottesville, Virginia, and attended the event at the direction of the SPLC.” The informant allegedly “made racist postings under the SPLC and helped coordinate transportation to the event for several attendees.”
Additional payments cited in the indictment include $1 million to an informant affiliated with the neo-Nazi organization National Alliance, more than $300,000 to an officer in the Aryan Nations-affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, $140,000 to a former chairman of the National Alliance and $70,000 to a former leader of the National Socialist Party.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division filed two forfeiture actions in hopes of recovering "alleged proceeds of the organization’s fraud scheme."
SPLC indicted, accused of giving $3M to extremist organizers | Politics
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