The Department of Justice (DOJ) expanded its criminal case against the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday, obtaining a superseding SPLC indictment from an Alabama grand jury that adds new details about how the organization allegedly funneled millions in donor funds to members of the KKK and other violent extremist groups.
The superseding indictment retains the original 11 counts filed in April — six counts of wire fraud, four counts of making false statements to a federally insured bank, and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
Prosecutors allege the SPLC secretly directed approximately $4.1 million in tax-exempt donor funds between 2014 and 2023 to individuals leading or affiliated with violent extremist organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations, and the National Alliance.
“The Southern Poverty Law Center’s stated mission included the dismantling of white supremacy and confronting hate across the country,” said Kevin Davidson, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. “However, unbeknownst to donors, some of their donated money was being used to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations, and the National Alliance.”
The new indictment expands on the alleged misconduct, claiming informants paid by the SPLC used the funds to recruit new members for extremist organizations and purchase materials for cross burnings and KKK robes and hoods.
The superseding SPLC indictment also corrects a legal vulnerability in the original charges, removing language about “misleading” bank statements after the Supreme Court ruled in Thompson v. USA that the relevant statute only covers false statements.
The SPLC pleaded not guilty at a May hearing in Montgomery and filed a motion last week to dismiss the case, calling it a “vindictive prosecution.” SPLC attorney Abbe Lowell said the superseding indictment “attempts to shore up the flaws in the initial charges, but it changes nothing.”
A trial is set for October.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
