The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which recently claimed it has become “virtually irrelevant,” is facing allegations of paying over $1 million to members of a white supremacist group to act as informants.
Reports suggest that the SPLC collaborated with individuals from the National Alliance who allegedly broke into the group’s headquarters and stole documents, which were subsequently given to the SPLC, according to Fox News.
This revelation follows a federal grand jury indictment of the SPLC in Alabama, with charges including wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy related to concealed money laundering.
According to details from the indictment, the SPLC paid National Alliance members more than $1 million over nine years for covert activities. These activities reportedly included the theft of about 25 boxes of documents, which the SPLC then copied and used in reports about the organization.
Interestingly, Sarah Bedford from the Washington Examiner noted that the SPLC had declared the group “virtually extinct” years earlier, raising questions about the need for such infiltration.
The SPLC’s webpage on the National Alliance designates it as a hate group, labeling it “America’s most dangerous and best-organized neo-Nazi organization” for decades. It criticizes the group’s ideology, which calls for the extermination of Jews and the establishment of a white-only homeland.
Additionally, the SPLC acknowledged that the organization had significantly declined by 2007 and was “nearly irrelevant” by 2009.
In response to the SPLC’s indictment, FBI Director Kash Patel criticized the nonprofit for claiming to fight against extremist organizations while allegedly funding them instead.
He stated, “They vowed to dismantle violent extremist groups, lied to their donors, and then in fact turned the tables and paid the leaders of these highly extremist groups.” Patel emphasized the contradiction of using funds to facilitate criminal activities.
The National Alliance and its founders have been linked to multiple violent attacks, including the 1999 mass shootings targeting ethnic minorities and Jews, as well as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, according to the report.
Meanwhile, major SPLC donors have remained quiet since the indictment’s announcement.
