New indictment alleges SPLC paid extremist informants who wanted out

A June 2 superseding indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) adds new allegations that the group used donor funds to pay white supremacist informants to remain active inside extremist organizations after they sought help leaving the movement.

According to the indictment and a detailed report by Daily Signal reporter Tyler O’Neil, at least three “field sources” inside extremist groups reached out to the SPLC seeking help to leave, only for the organization to allegedly offer them monthly payments and expenses to stay active and in leadership roles. 

The superseding indictment expands on prosecutors’ broader claim — first outlined in an April indictment — that the SPLC secretly funneled millions of donor dollars to the same extremist groups it claimed to combat. It also cites SPLC revenue figures from public tax filings that prosecutors had not included in the original indictment.

>> Indictment alleges SPLC funneled $3M to extremist groups, advocacy group urges restitution <<

Prosecutors said in the indictment that one source, identified as F-30 — a leader in the National Socialist Party of America, Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member, and Aryan Nations faction head — contacted the SPLC because he wanted out of the white nationalist movement. An SPLC employee allegedly offered F-30 about $2,500 per month plus expenses to continue leading the group. F-30 allegedly received more than $70,000 through a shell company, according to the document.

Two other sources, F-31 and F-32, were KKK members who wanted to leave the group because they feared for their safety from other KKK members. The indictment alleges an SPLC employee encouraged them to stay, offering to pay each of them $1,200 a month, as well as any expenses incurred. They allegedly accepted, rose in the white racialist organization, recruited new members, attended rallies, and received reimbursements from SPLC for KKK garments and cross-burning materials.

The SPLC has maintained that it paid informants to help monitor extremist threats and alert law enforcement before violence occurred, according to O’Neil, who noted that some of the informants’ intel helped lead to prosecutions.

As Zeale News previously reported, a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted the SPLC April 21 on 11 criminal counts: six counts of wire fraud, four counts of making false statements to banks, and one count of conspiracy to conceal money laundering. 

The original indictment alleged that between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC funneled roughly $3 million in donor funds to individuals tied to the KKK, neo-Nazi groups, Aryan Nations, and others, and the superseding indictment raises that alleged total to $4.1 million. 

Prosecutors alleged that those funds were then used for rallies, recruitment, and paraphernalia — all while donors were told contributions went toward dismantling white supremacy.

The SPLC is also known for designating mainstream conservative or religious organizations as “hate groups.”

CBS News reported that the SPLC has pleaded not guilty to the charges and recently moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the prosecution is unlawful. 

According to an article by O’Neil, SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair will testify before the House Judiciary Committee next week.