There was always something suspicious about the SPLC, almost like a big brother of the ADL. Both organizations profit greatly from the very thing they supposedly fight. Why dismantle something when you can turn it into a cash cow?
The past decade has been a real eye opener for me. It pays to critique absolutely everything, especially those deemed above reproach.
There are less than 4,000 neo-Nazis in the US, and less than 8,000 KKK members. 12,000 equates to just 0.0035% of the U.S. population, the same number as people who suffer from dwarfism.
Combined, the SPLC and ADL are worth about a billion dollars.
To be fair, that seems like the vast majority weighted to the ADL.
But otherwise, yes, if you have ever looked at SPLC, it’s been a little curious at best. I believe nothing right away, but if the claim is that the demand for racism outweighed the supply, I can image less plausible things that the indictment.
Edit: I had no idea SPLC was so big. I guess I was confusing ADL for AIPAC.
Do you have a source on that statistic? Because I just don't believe it.
Here's Vice quoting the FBI: https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-fbi-just-put-white-natio...
Newsweek last year talking about the growth in the past decade: https://www.newsweek.com/neo-nazi-clubs-us-2095113
Reuters about dramatically escalating number of incidents: https://www.reuters.com/investigations/american-nazis-aryan-...
NPR: https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188111769/active-club-hate-g...
I can imagine these actions would be inconvenient for the Trump administration.
> Infiltrating hate groups with informants is something that goes way back to the civil rights era and before. It's never been something only the government can do, especially when the government is more likely to be showing up for the white power happy hour every third Thursday at Chili's.
https://bsky.app/profile/andycraig.bsky.social/post/3mjzzezd...
And to be extremely skeptical of this administration working in good faith. The lawfare to destroy the good, to destroy institutions, by the very worst, is just out of control. The expression of power of the rich to destroy has gone up and up and up, and they keep getting by even as they destroy load bearing elements of society:
> I will say, frivolously suing a nonprofit for fraud has become A Thing recently. See, e.g., James Huntsman's suit against the Mormon Church or Elon Musk's against OpenAI.
> But rich people wasting money to punish nonprofits they no longer like is one thing;* the government doing it is another.
https://bsky.app/profile/smbrnsn.bsky.social/post/3mk224wrzm...
The FBI had been paying the SPLC to do just this sort of thing, until the new extremist administration stepped in. The people waging this case know all that. The donors new the work the SPLC did. And it's quite clear they can't be expected to show receipts, and safely show where all the money goes. https://bsky.app/profile/tomjoscelyn.bsky.social/post/3mk25s...
More despicable illegitemate mis-governance as usual by the most chaotic evil US government we have ever had.
The details they already published that SPLC was covering up and laundering money that went out as payments to KKK and neo-Nazi groups… sure seems pretty bad.
But yes, maybe this is just Trump trying to distract you from all the good work SPLC does. And that makes sense because federal court process to even get this far are also all part of the conspiracy too right?
I mean… clearly the federal grand jury just happened to be 12 red hat hardcore maga tools even to bring the charges, right?
Likely not a single one - it's been starkly clear for more than a year that the current US Federal DoJ is being wielded not on a whim for shits and giggles but for revenge and manipulation.
Have you been following the DOJ at all? A malicious prosecution is 100% on brand.
It is well-known that the bar for securing an indictment is very low. There is a famous quote about it: "Any good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich."
It too is well-known that the Trump administration is exerting great pressure on the DOJ to charge political opponents with crimes. The most public of these was when the DOJ twice failed to secure an indictment against Letitia James, following pressure from Trump and the firing of DOJ prosecutors who resisted pursuing the case against James. This was notable because indictments are so easy to get.
The current acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, was asked about a message Trump sent to the previous AG (Bondi), where Trump wrote ""What about Comey, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, Leticia??? ... They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!". Blanche stated ""That type of communication from President Trump should make every American happy".
The SPLC has been highly critical of Trump for years, and been a legal thorn in his side. It's always been the case that a case being brought shouldn't be taken as any implication of guilt, and it is especially true in this case. The evidence, or lack thereof, will be revealed in court in due time.
What about paying low level arsonists to rat out their boss?
Something important to note here is informants aren't always in the organization or participating in the activity. It could be a truck stop attendant who texts you when the same guy stops in to buy a case of water and then slips it under the roll up door on his cargo van, or a dishwasher at a cafe who noticed a group of guys with the same tattoo. Things that on their own don't rise to the level of someone calling the police. Payments help people who otherwise would keep their mouth shut because they are in financial situations where they can't afford to lose their job.
You specified paying arsonists in your first comment.
I assume arson is a criminal action and not protected by free speech.
Here’s the indictment. Read it yourself. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1437146/dl
The only "criminal" thing they did was encouraging non-white people to use their right to vote. How dare they do such a thing before the mid-term elections!
Is there even the slightest bit of proof to this claim? Has SPLC released details on this yet?
Because the crime is not sending KKK and neonazi groups more than a million dollars.
It’s that the committed wire fraud and money laundering to do it - allegedly.
>The only "criminal" thing they did was encouraging non-white people to use their right to vote.
The indictment is linked above. You should read it.