Logo of the Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a biased group that opposes aspects of the Bible, got indicted by the FBI:
Southern Poverty Law Center Hit With 11-Count Indictment
April 22, 2026
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed an 11-count indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center alleging SPLC, in part, raised funds and made payments to, and in support of, undercover informants within hate groups.
Reaction from nonprofit sector leaders in defense of the SPLC was swift.
The indictment, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the middle District of Alabama Northern Division, includes 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. The DoJ is seeking forfeiture of “any property, real or personal, which represents or is traceable to the gross receipts obtained, directly or indirectly, from the offenses…”
The DoJ alleges that between at least 2014 and 2023 “the SPLC received donation money under the auspices that the funds would be used to ‘dismantle’ violent extremist groups, this donation money was, instead, being used, in part, by the SPLC to pay leaders and others within the same violent extremist groups. That money was then used for the benefit of the individuals as well as the violent extremist groups.” https://thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/southern-poverty-law-center-hit-with-11-count-indictment/
April 21, 2026
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (LifeSiteNews) — The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), one of the most powerful left-wing activist groups in the U.S., on 11 counts of bank fraud and other crimes.
The infamous nonprofit “secretly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds” to members of the Ku Klux Klan, the National Socialist Party of America, and other extremist organizations as part of investigations into the groups, the DOJ said on Tuesday. The SPLC failed to tell donors that it was using their money “to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website,” according to the agency.
The DOJ said that the SPLC “opened bank accounts connected to a series of fictitious entities” to cover up the scheme and “made a series of false statements related to the operation of the accounts.”
“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked. This Department of Justice will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable. No entity is above the law.”
“The SPLC allegedly engaged in a massive fraud operation to deceive their donors, enrich themselves, and hide their deceptive operations from the public,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “They lied to their donors, vowing to dismantle violent extremist groups, and actually turned around and paid the leaders of these very extremist groups – even utilizing the funds to have these groups facilitate the commission of state and federal crimes. That is illegal – and this is an ongoing investigation against all individuals involved.”
Democrats criticized the indictment, with far-left U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal saying that the “Southern Poverty Law Center does incredibly important work” and that she “will continue to stand with them.”
The group is one of the largest public advocacy organizations in America, with an $822 million endowment and a $129 million revenue as of 2024 and financial backing from liberal mega-donors. The SPLC has long faced criticism for lavish salaries, allegations of sexual harassment and mistreatment of staff, and transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to offshore accounts. …
The SPLC’s “hate map” features prominent pro-family organizations such as Family Research Council, Alliance Defending Freedom, and Liberty Counsel alongside terroristic white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
The notorious January 2023 FBI memo targeting “Radical Traditional Catholic ideology” and proposing “threat mitigation” of traditionalist Catholics notably cited the SPLC and its designation of nine Catholic organizations as “hate groups.” …
The SPLC lists “anti-LGBTQ+” beliefs as one of the “extremist ideologies” that it tracks, along with “Racist Skinhead,” “Neo-Nazi,” and “Holocaust Denial” movements. The group associates “anti-LGBTQ+ hate” with the ideas that heterosexuality “is the only ‘normal’ sexuality” or that “gender can only be understood as either ‘male’ or ‘female’,” both of which Catholic teaching and the Bible uphold. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-trump-doj-charges-far-left-southern-poverty-law-center-that-targets-traditional-catholics/
The SPLC has long been a fraudulent, hypocritical organization, yet Big Tech groups like YouTube have relied on them, or at least used them, to help justify their censoring of content on the internet.
Consider also the following from back in 2017:
The First Amendment to our Constitution has enshrined our right to offend as the bedrock of free speech, but in recent years the right not to be offended has taken precedence. Political correctness is running rampant and it may be destroying our country. http://www.app.com/story/opinion/readers/2017/09/15/free-speech-liberals-pc/105648100/
In 2010, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated the Family Research Council a “hate group” because of its orthodox position on homosexuality, and its occasionally incendiary defenses of that position. …
Unfortunately the center’s hate group designation remains extremely influential. Recently, a payment servicer cut off the Ruth Institute because of that “hate group” label. This piqued my interest, because I knew Morse’s work on liberty and the family from long before the gay marriage debate dawned on the political horizon. I’d always found it interesting and thought provoking, and I was surprised to see her lumped in with Holocaust deniers and white supremacists. My astonishment seems to have been well-founded.
“Hate group” is, of course, not a scientific term with a precise definition. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s entries do highlight a lot of language about various groups that may not strike me as the equivalent of Klan rhetoric, but does make me uncomfortable. And who am I to say that “discomfort” is a better characterization than “hate speech”? In criticizing them, am I not committing the same sin of which I accuse the SPLC, trying to leverage my platform to curtail speech I don’t like through unofficial censure?
Well, yes, indeed, the SPLC has a perfect right to decide what they mean by “hate group.”
Unfortunately, it also has an incentive to apply this term broadly. When people see that the SPLC lists over 900 hate groups — 900! — this seems like good reason to panic. And maybe write a check to the SPLC.
Even fairly large institutions that theoretically have ample resources to investigate the SPLC’s list often rely on it, to their detriment. CNN published the list under the headline “Here Are All the Hate Groups Active in Your Area,” then had to alter the story upon realizing that this was effectively joining the SPLC in branding local churches and conservative nonprofits as “hate groups.” Guidestar, which rates nonprofits, added the SPLC designations to its listings, then had to make an embarrassing volte-face when conservatives called them out. Given the increasing tendency of powerful tech companies to flex their muscle against hate groups, we may see more and more institutions unwittingly turned into critics or censors, not just of Nazi propaganda, but also of fairly mainstream ideas.
That’s not just a problem for the groups that will be burdened when the “hate group” label is slapped on them; it’s also a problem for the rest of us. The broader the definition, the more Americans will be swept up under that label, and the less sustainable it will be. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-09-07/southern-poverty-law-center-gets-creative-to-label-hate-groups
The SPLC changed from its original focus. Wikipedia reported:
In 1986, the entire legal staff of the SPLC, excluding Dees, resigned as the organization shifted from traditional civil rights work toward fighting right-wing extremism. (accessed 09/17/17)
The SPLC lost its way and has more of a political, and less of a truly social justice, agenda.
Many in it wish to censor those who promote certain aspects of biblical morality.
Consider, also, that the prophet Amos was inspired to record the following:
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)
Notice that the Bible tells of a time that will come when the word of God will not be found. I do not believe that this means that there will be no more Bibles–but that those wanting to better understand it will have trouble finding explanations and there will be governmental restrictions related to teaching what the Bible teaches. Groups, like the Continuing Church of God, may be labeled as “hate groups” for teaching what the Bible says should be taught!
And technically, the SPLC already would consider Churches of God as ‘hate groups’ for our opposition to sexual immorality.
Because of biblical instructions and prophecies, we in the Continuing Church of God are continuing to prepare for the ‘short work’ (Romans 9:28) and the coming ‘famine of the word.’
Consider, however, that Jesus said:
4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. (John 9:4)
Philadelphian Christians want to respond to the doors that Christ opens to proclaim the gospel (2 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 16:8-9; Colossians 4:2-4) and do the work.
Philadelphia means “love of the brethren.” It is LOVE to properly teach what the Bible teaches, even if some group like the SPLC calls that “hate speech.” The Apostle Paul wrote:
1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
It is almost impossible to assist one who ” is overtaken in any trespass” if you are not allowed to speak according to the Bible, as it is in the Bible that we learn what the trespasses are.
We in the Continuing Church of God will teach and stand up for the truth (watch also the short introduction to our YouTube channel: ContinuingCOG Channel), despite realizing that the ‘famine of the word’ that the prophet Amos referred to is coming.
We must do the work and persevere to the end–despite various ones who do not truly respect the Bible.
The SPLC should not be funding racist organizations.
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
God’s Grace is For All Is being Jewish a hindrance to salvation? What about not being a descendant of Israel? What does the Bible really teach? Here is a link to a related sermon titled Race and Grace; Do you view race as God does? Watch also Mystery of Race.
Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Will Philadelphian Christians instruct many in the end times? What about modern censoring, censorship, and shadow banning? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work. Here is a link to another: Preparing to Instruct Many.
Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There are also three video sermons you can watch: Cancel Culture and Christian Persecution, The Coming Persecution of the Church, and Christian Persecution from the Beast. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection; here is a message in Spanish: Me Está Llamando Dios Hoy? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Will certain English-speaking nations that refuse to repent be destroyed? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
About Baptism Should you be baptized? Could baptism be necessary for salvation? What about “the thief on the cross’? Who should baptize and how should it be done? Here are links to two related sermons: Let’s Talk About Baptism and Baptism, Infants, Fire, & the Second Death.
The Bible Condemns Homosexuality “Same-sex marriage” for “gays” and lesbians is becoming more acceptable to many. What does the Bible teach about homosexuality? Can homosexuals change? A related video sermon is titled What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?
Pornography: A scourge on society Is pornography harmless fun? Does the Bible teach anything about it? What are the views of some involved with it? Here is a link to a YouTube video Pornography: Harmless Fun or a Scourge on Society?
Cross-dressing and other assaults against your children. What should you do? Is there an agenda to turn your children and/or grandchildren away from biblical morality and towards practices promoted by homosexuals? What does the Bible teach about cross-dressing? What should parents do? If there is an agenda, what has been going on? There is also a YouTube video on this, titled Cross dressing and Other Assaults Against Your Children.
Abortion, the Bible, and a Woman’s Right to Choose Do you know what the Bible teaches on this? Has the Roman Catholic Church allowed abortions? What about the real Church of God? Some may also, or instead, wish to view the YouTube video Abortion, the Bible, and US Debt.