Civil rights groups condemn Southern Poverty Law Center’s indictment and prepare for legal fights
WASHINGTON (AP) — Guilty This week’s indictment from the Southern Poverty Law Center This was met with outrage but little surprise by civil rights leaders, who have been preparing for more than a year for tougher legal scrutiny from the Trump administration and how to mount a coordinated response.
In calls immediately following the indictment, attorneys discussed how to support the SPLC, a Montgomery, Alabama-based civil rights group founded in 1971 that tracks white supremacist groups and has been outspoken on voting rights, immigration and policing. In one appeal, organizers agreed that winning in public would be crucial once judicial proceedings began; This led to dozens of public statements of support and planned rallies.
Legal advisers to civil rights groups also urged organizers to prepare for similar criminal indictments, lengthy legal proceedings that could drain their resources, and audits of personnel and internal documents.
The flurry of behind-the-scenes coordination represented, like many others, a marked mobilization of activist groups. universities, law firms And non-profit organizationsThey have been at odds with the federal government since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year.
“There has been a learning power among these organizations from the law firm debacle,” said Vanita Gupta, a former deputy attorney general at the Justice Department during the Biden administration, referring to deals some large law firms made with the administration. Gupta led one of the calls that brought together activists.
“The government’s goal is often to shut down and paralyze an organization so that their work stops while they defend themselves. And the hope here is that that won’t happen with this broad effort to defend the SPLC,” Gupta said.
Organizers say they are ready to support the SPLC in its legal fight.
“This is a blatant assault on civil rights and civil liberties to whitewash the foot soldiers of the grand substitution theory and other extremists. This coalition will not remain silent,” said Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an umbrella organization for hundreds of civil rights groups.
The coalition of more than 100 activist groups released a letter Tuesday, without mentioning the indictment, pledging solidarity with groups “unfairly targeted” by the federal government. SPLC was one of the parties that signed the agreement.
“An attack on one is an attack on everyone,” the coalition said. “We will share information, resources and support with any organization threatened by abuse of power.”
DOJ alleges criminal wrongdoing in SPLC’s long-standing informant network
The Justice Department alleges that the SPLC, prominent for its work prosecuting and tracking hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, violated federal law through its network of paid informants on extremist groups. The DOJ alleges the payments funded hate groups and misled the SPLC’s donors.
SPLC currently faces charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Alabama, where the organization is based.
“SPLC manufactures racism to justify its existence,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference announcing the charges. Blanche promised that the department would “hold SPLC and any other fraudulent organizations operating with the same deceptive tactics accountable.”
Longtime civil rights activists found the allegations to be a disingenuous and partisan move that could strengthen extremist groups.
“The indictment is clearly political and represents the Department of Justice turning against itself,” said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. “This puts the Department of Justice in a position where it actually defends white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and others.”
Lawyers also see the indictment as part of the administration’s broader subversion of civil rights law and the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s political opponents.
In recent years, the SPLC has become a bogeyman among conservatives angered by the watchdog’s portrayal of many right-wing organizations engaged in Republican politics as hateful or extremist.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which SPLC has designated a hate group, said the government should not only pursue convictions but also seek compensation for those harmed by SPLC.
“For years, the SPLC has used its platform to label and target organizations with which it disagrees, often blurring the line between legitimate concern and ideological attack,” Perkins said in a statement. he said. “Such reckless characterizations not only damage reputations, but also put lives at risk.”
FBI Director Kash Patel in October canceled the agency’s longstanding counter-extremism partnerships Along with the SPLC and the Anti-Defamation League, which fight anti-Semitism. At the time, Patel called the SPLC a “partisan smear machine.”
The Department of Justice and the SPLC did not respond to requests for comment.
The indictment represents a significant shift in civil rights work
Advocates dispute the DOJ’s characterization of the SPLC’s work.
“The problem is that the indictment essentially alleges that it was a fraud for SPLC’s donors to use their funds to fight the Klan, Neo Nazis and other white supremacist groups, when that’s exactly why people are donating to the organization,” said Norm Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action, a group that works with organizations that have legal disputes with the Trump administration.
Eisen added: “The idea that it is wrong to use informants and protect their identities to prevent white supremacist violence is belied by the fact that this is not only what the SPLC did, but also the FBI’s own stock and trade.”
Civil rights organizations are now preparing to take further legal action. Organizations have reviewed their document retention, tax compliance and audit policies over the past year to protect against any investigation or lawsuit.
Some civil rights organizations also began creating new organizational structures that could better withstand legal scrutiny. In another recent call, activists moved to restructure some groups into for-profit organizations or potentially draft new financial channels for donors to ensure staff can receive salaries if an organization’s assets are seized or frozen.
The preparations represent a marked shift for many civil rights leaders who, in recent years under both Democratic and Republican administrations, have viewed the Justice Department as a reliable ally in struggles for basic civil rights.
“What we’re seeing in real time is an administration trying to leverage its position to target individuals and organizations that disagree with its political thinking,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who said the Justice Department was “armed by dangerous forces.”
But for other leaders, the SPLC indictment raised the possibility of a return to a previous era when the Justice Department monitored civil rights leaders to disrupt their activities.
“We’re not backing down, but our view is clear. If you’re in the crosshairs of this administration, everyone could be in danger in some way,” said Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights group. citizenship by birth And voting by mail.
“That’s what they’re looking for; they want it to have a chilling effect,” Proaño said.
