In Alabama, where the SPLC is headquartered in Montgomery, a federal grand jury has returned an 11-count indictment. It alleges the left-wing group poured $3 million into the same groups, such as the Klan, that it monitors on its controversial nationwide “Hate Map.”
All of those criminal charges are tied to the DOJ’s allegation the SPLC sneakily paid top leadership in eight groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nation, from 2014 to 2023.
“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said in a statement.
Reacting to the indictment, the SPLC says it spent those funds on paid informants who reported activities to the Montgomery-based organization, and their activities probably saved people’s lives, the group insists.
That defense became popular among the media overnight.
A sympathetic USA Today story says the SPLC was “indicted for paying sources to infiltrate hate groups,” and the story compares that activity to undercover FBI agents.
The USA Today story was written by reporter Will Carless, whose beat includes “extremism,” and who appeared with an SPLC representative last year for a panel discussion on hate and extremism.
Other news outlets that are leaning heavily on the "paid informants" angle include the BBC, NPR, and The Washington Post.
The indictments include six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Those charges come from SPLC bank accounts that allegedly hid the flow of funds, and the DOJ says the SPLC also made false statements that concealed their purpose.
The federal government also alleges the SPLC defrauded its donors who believed the organization was using their donations to fight the Klan and other groups.
The federal indictment represents a 180-degree reversal at the Department of Justice. After the Biden administration worked closely with the SPLC to target their political enemies, FBI Director Kash Patel called the group a "smear machine" and officially severed that cooperation last year.
Reacting to news of the indictment, Family Research Council spokesman Jerry Boykin bluntly told AFN the SPLC is an “evil” organization.
“And I mean that sincerely,” Boykin, FRC's executive vice president, said.
The staff at Family Research Council escaped a mass shooting in 2012, when gunman Floyd Corkins stormed its Washington, D.C. office armed with a handgun.
Corkins’ plan was stopped by a security guard, Leo Johnson, who was wounded wrestling the handgun from Corkins.
Even though Corkins is on video telling two FBI agents he used the “Hate Map” to target FRC over its “anti-gay” stance, SPLC refused to remove Family Research Council from its list.
Not only did the SPLC never admit its role, its own online report about the FRC shooting fails to mention Corkins mentioned the “Hate Map.” The report concludes by stating FRC should “stop the demonization” of LGBT people.
