A federal grand jury in Alabama has charged the Southern Poverty Law Center with wire fraud, making false statements, and money laundering for funneling over $3 million to the very “hate groups” it claims to combat.
The indictment alleges that SPLC paid more than $3 million between 2014 and 2023 to eight individuals identified as field sources (“Fs”), who were linked to violent extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance. These operatives included F-37, a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally, and F-9, a neo-Nazi affiliated with the National Alliance who worked for SPLC for over two decades.
The indictment details how SPLC covertly funneled funds through fictitious entities like Fox Photography and Tech Writers Group to pay these field sources while falsely advertising donations would “dismantle” violent extremist groups. It specifically notes that SPLC paid F-37 more than $270,000 between 2015 and 2023 for coordinating transportation to the Charlottesville rally, and paid F-9 over $1 million during his two-decade association with the organization—during which F-9 stole documents from another violent extremist group and used them to fabricate false narratives on SPLC’s Hatewatch website.
The indictment states that donors were never informed that a portion of their contributions would be used by SPLC to fund leaders within groups it denounced, including those who engaged in racist activities or planned illegal operations. SPLC also opened bank accounts with fictitious entities that conducted no actual business and had no employees, as part of a scheme to conceal the misuse of donated funds.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the organization’s actions as “manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” emphasizing that the Department of Justice will hold SPLC accountable for diverting donor money to violent extremist groups while falsely claiming to fight them.