House Republicans are calling for a new committee to investigate “the money, influence, and power behind the radical left’s assault on America and rule of law,” pointing to the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk and other recent political violence.
In a Sept. 11 letter, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and 22 other House Freedom Caucus members urged Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and top committee chairs to create a standalone committee with “full subpoena powers and authority to deliver results.”
The lawmakers pointed to what they described as a “sustained breakdown of law and order, fueled not by chance, but by anti-American ideology.” They cited the 2017 shooting at a Republican congressional baseball practice, the 2024 attempt on President Donald Trump’s life, and the Sept. 10 murder of Kirk in Utah.
The letter singled out the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which earlier this year placed Turning Point USA on its controversial “hate map.” As CatholicVote previously reported, SPLC’s “hate map” has faced criticism for years after labeling traditional Catholics extremists and grouping several conservative groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Family Research Council (FRC) on the same list as the Ku Klux Klan.
“We have seen targets placed on the Family Research Council and Charlie Kirk by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) only to witness shootings toward each, including the tragic assassination of Charlie just this week,” the letter stated, “after being placed on the SPLC’s notorious ‘Hate Map’ three months ago.”
In 2012, a gunman used the SPLC’s “hate map” to target FRC headquarters for a mass shooting, CatholicVote reported. The attacker was stopped by a building manager who suffered a gunshot wound.
The GOP members also accused left-wing networks, including Antifa and groups backed by billionaire George Soros, of “funding and putting in place District Attorneys and Judges to then coordinate releasing criminals to the streets.” They highlighted the Aug. 22 murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, by a man who was allegedly arrested and released 14 times.
“Enough is enough,” the lawmakers wrote. “We must follow the money to identify the perpetrators of the coordinated anti-American assaults being carried out against us and take all steps under the law necessary to stop them.”
In response to the letter, a spokesperson for the SPLC defended the group, stating that its work equips communities and protects marginalized individuals.
“We must have meaningful national conversation about violence and polarization in America. Blaming organizations that monitor extremism distracts from the urgent work of addressing the conditions that allow hate and violence to grow,” SPLC said, according to The Hill. “SPLC remains committed to exposing extremism, equipping communities with knowledge, and defending the rights and safety of marginalized communities.”
Roy and his colleagues closed by warning that America cannot “pretend to be bound together by shared ideals, when a well-funded, vitriolic cadre of our fellow Americans and foreign interests are at war with the very values of faith in God, fidelity to our Constitution, and respect for the principles of liberty and Western Civilization that define us as Americans.”
They said Kirk’s assassination underscores the need to confront the forces behind the “coordinated global network funding and fueling this attack” and vowed to press Congress to investigate.