Charlie Kirk knew… but it was all painted as another right-wing conspiracy, just as every other warning about the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) had been before it.
He sat across from Laura Ingraham on Fox News and outlined the SPLC “hate map” that he claimed had already inspired one shooting at the Family Research Council. The organization had placed Turning Point USA (TPUSA) on the same list as the KKK and Neo-Nazi groups with an explosive “investigative” piece called: Turning Point USA: A case study of the hard right in 2024.
Perhaps it was Alex Jones' allegation made in 2017 that made it so easy to dismiss the allegations made against the SPLC, but shame on the DOJ and the mainstream media for not even bothering to pull a thread, until now.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche just dropped a bombshell indictment against the SPLC that includes money laundering, bank fraud, and wire fraud charges. The group has been accused of funneling money to the KKK and Aryan Nations, among others, the very groups it had likened Charlie Kirk to. Blanche claims the group was manufacturing the very extremism it claimed to be fighting.
Nobody looked. Nobody cared… until now.
The SPLC was supposed to be an organization fighting for the little guy, not manipulating him to score political points. This is an organization that has raised more than $100 million annually since the Charlottesville riot, receiving checks from the likes of George Soros' Open Society Foundations, George Clooney, and Apple, to name but a few. The latter two donated $1 million each after Charlottesville. Who writes a check for $1 million without vetting? Either way, shame on them all.
In 2023 alone, the organization generated nearly $170 million in overall income, shattering records. We now know that some of that money was being funneled to the very hate groups it pretended to fight.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche broke the news this week that the SPLC was being indicted for having funneled more than $3 million to these groups, introducing nearly a dozen charges. According to the DOJ press release, he stated:
“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence. 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.”
FBI Director Kash Patel added:
“The SPLC allegedly engaged in a massive fraud operation to deceive their donors, enrich themselves, and hide their deceptive operations from the public. 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.”
According to the DOJ, some of the extremist groups being funded by the SPLC were:
The money trail for the SPLC reads like something you would expect to see from the mafia or a cartel.
In July 2025, the Daily Signal reported that the organization had an endowment of more than $700 million, with more than $30 million buried in offshore accounts in Central America and the Cayman Islands.
The warning signs, however, were pointed out when the Washington Free Beacon did an exposé on the group in 2017, exposing multi-million dollar transfers to overseas banks. This was not business as usual for an organization like this, but nobody paid any attention because it was the right-wing media reporting it, and conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones ringing the bell.
The Beacon updated its exposé this month, showing more than $800 million in assets, with roughly $57 million buried in offshore accounts in Central America and the Cayman Islands.
According to a report in The Spectator, CharityWatch had given the organization an “F” rating because it was spending more money on fundraising than it was on its legal program, as well as paying its CEO nearly $500,000 per year in salary. By all accounts, this was a front, not a charity.
Each year, the SPLC published what it called the “Hate Map.”
As we noted above, Kirk had discussed the map on Fox News, and we can understand why, since his name appeared in more than three dozen posts on the SPLC website. In its report, "The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024," Charlie was mentioned 18 times.
He was clearly being targeted by the SPLC. Now, before I get accused of linking the group to his assassination, I am not saying the group was in any way involved in the actual murder of Kirk. But I will say this… we know how the lunatics in this country react to stuff like this. Look at how Trump has been targeted due to the rhetoric on the left. Can anyone say that an influential organization such as this, repeating his name over and over in hate reports, did not put an idea into some maniac’s head?
To that point, the same rhetoric being thrown at Trump by Democrats was used in this report about Kirk, claiming that he and TPUSA had an "authoritarian vision for the country that threatens the foundation of our democracy." The “threat to democracy.” How many times have we heard the left use that phrase over the last decade?
The SPLC had designated the Family Research Council (FRC) as an anti-LGBTQ hate group since 2010. It was later learned that the shooter used the hate map to target the FRC.
In August 2012, Floyd Lee Corkins II opened fire at the FRC, shooting a security guard. At the time, US Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. stated:
“A security guard’s heroism is the only thing that prevented Floyd Corkins, II from carrying out a mass shooting intended to kill as many people as possible. Our entire community is thankful to the hero who stood up to this heinous attack. Today’s 25-year prison sentence demonstrates the steep price to be paid for turning to violence to terrorize your political enemies.”
British activist Maajid Nawaz was tagged as an anti-Muslim extremist in one of its reports. He sued and was eventually given a $3.375 million settlement, reported Newsweek.
Dr. Ben Carson was also tagged as an extremist by the group in 2014, which later retracted the report and issued an apology to Carson. Carson, as we all know, was affiliated with Trump, served in his first administration, and even ran for president as a Republican. That is three strikes, and you are out as far as the left is concerned.
Another right-wing group targeted by the SPLC was the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), largely due to the group’s stance on biological men competing in women’s sports (there were other issues the SPLC had with the group), with various quotes about this all over the front page of the report.
In its rebuttal to the label, the ADF exposed the SPLC, dating back to the mid-1980s, writing:
“In the mid-1980s, the SPLC made a conscious choice to become a fear-mongering, money-raising machine, resulting in the resignation of its entire legal department in 1985.”
But again, nobody was really paying attention. It was not until Trump’s second term, with Kash Patel now leading the FBI, that the organization was abandoned by the FBI as a partner in researching hate organizations. That was the first domino to fall, culminating in the eventual indictments that were just announced.
The house of cards started to collapse in 2019, when President Richard Cohen resigned, and co-founder Morris Dees was fired from the SPLC.
An investigation found internal emails showing systemic sexual harassment, gender, and racial discrimination. Multiple female employees resigned, and employees accused leadership of being "complicit in decades of racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment and/or assault,” according to an Alabama Political Reporter report.
The For Purpose Law Group published a report on the SPLC, concluding:
“As the story unfolds about the sad and highly ironic presence of a toxic workplace environment at a civil rights organization, there are legitimate questions including how the board and senior staff at the Southern Poverty Law Center allowed this to begin and then to fester for so long. This is particularly important to discuss since, apparently, these problems were more or less an open secret at least in some legal and philanthropy circles.”
Of note here is that former Michelle Obama Chief of Staff Tina Tchen was retained by the group to conduct an external review. This just goes to show how deep the ties were between the SPLC and the Democrat Party, which likely explains why no action was ever taken by the Biden administration as the façade started to crumble.
To this point, all we had were pieces, with nobody willing to sit down at the kitchen table to put the entire puzzle together. This was not even a hard puzzle to solve, but the mainstream media likely knew what the finished product would look like, so the story was reported in dribs and drabs rather than giving a full picture.
The Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally was used by Democrats to attack Trump from a snippet of a comment he made. I am not even going to justify what was said simply because it was a disgrace by the mainstream media and Joe Biden.
What I do want to discuss here, however, is a comment made by Alex Jones at the time. I had never even seen the quote, to be honest, but my friend Lior brought it to my attention, which is what led to me pulling on this thread. Jones claimed that “these guys with torches,” for the most part, were actors. He even challenged people to look up their names. He claimed they were “Democratic Party operatives,” who had been caught painting swastikas and burning crosses.
I don’t like Alex Jones, and I will be the first person to tell you that about 98% of what he says is complete and utter nonsense, and that is likely why this was ignored at the time. Yet, after that incident took place, funding for the SPLC exploded.
Fox Business reported that its revenues tripled, and all of a sudden, nine-figure years were the norm. In Blanche’s indictment of SPLC, he alleges that the group had funded the United Klans of America, as well as an online chat group that organizes the “Unite the Right” rally. If that allegation is true, this is about as big a bombshell as we are going to see in this country. This was manufactured hate solely for the purpose of taking down the Trump administration and conservatives.
But again, this was benefiting the Democrat Party, so why would Biden and company even consider pulling on this thread?
The warnings were all there, but they were often ignored. In addition to Kirk and Jones, Elon Musk had called the SPLC an “evil organization” in 2025, posting:
“The SPLC is an evil organization that spreads hate propaganda relentlessly. It needs to be shut down.”
Kirk, before being killed, had stated:
"Being on their list is a badge of honor. It means they’re terrified that we’re so effective. Keep crying, SPLC—America’s done with your scam.”
During his interview with Laura Ingraham, Kirk really struck a nerve, stating:
"Understand that they're literally putting high school chapters of ours on a hate group next to the KKK and next to neo-Nazi groups. And I mean, we can laugh this off. There's an element to this. Remember that there was a shooter that went to the Family Research Council years ago, inspired by the SPLC list. This is them trying to make us basically surrender at Turning Point USA. We're going to do the opposite. And our students are only going to lean in even more."
That comment was made in May. Four months later, Charlie was shot in the head at Utah Valley University during a TPUSA event.
I know this is a lot to process all at once, which is why I put this table together to make it a bit easier to digest:
| What They Claimed | What Was True | Who Warned | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil rights organization fighting hate | DOJ charges: manufactured hate designations to drive donations. 11 counts including wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. | Acting AG Blanche: "The SPLC was not dismantling these groups, it was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose." | 2026 |
| Anti-poverty mission serving communities | Accumulated $738M+ endowment. Moved money to Cayman Islands and Bermuda through fictitious accounts ("Fox Photography," "Rare Books Warehouse"). CEO compensation: $466K+. CharityWatch rating: F. | Former SPLC employees called it a "con" and a "racket." Laid off 25% of staff despite sitting on three-quarters of a billion dollars. | Ongoing |
| Definitive authority on hate groups in America | Labeled mainstream conservative organizations as "hate groups." FRC shooting followed their hate map. Settled Nawaz defamation for $3.375M. Placed Turning Point USA next to the KKK. | Charlie Kirk (May 2025): "Being on their list is a badge of honor. Keep crying, SPLC — America's done with your scam." Kirk warned the hate map "inspired violence," citing the FRC shooting. Months later, he was assassinated. | 2012–2025 |
| Workplace committed to equality and fighting discrimination | Co-founder Morris Dees fired for sexual harassment. Internal racism documented by multiple employees. President Richard Cohen resigned. Legal director Rhonda Brownstein resigned. Employees accused leadership of being "complicit in decades of racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment." | SPLC employees in internal emails. The New Yorker investigation. Alabama Political Reporter obtained internal correspondence. | 2019 |
| Monitoring domestic extremism to protect Americans | DOJ alleges SPLC paid $3M+ to 8 informants affiliated with KKK, Aryan Nations, National Socialist Party, United Klans of America, Sadistic Souls MC, and American Front. One informant paid $1M+ while in a neo-Nazi group. | Alex Jones (2017): Claimed the SPLC was paying Nazis. Mocked and dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. The DOJ's 2026 indictment alleges $3M in payments to members of Nazi groups and the KKK. | 2014–2023 |
| Charlottesville proved rising hate and justified SPLC's mission and fundraising | DOJ alleges an SPLC-paid informant was in the "online leadership chat group" that planned the Unite the Right rally, attended at SPLC's direction, and helped coordinate transportation. Paid $270K+. Revenue surged after the rally. George Clooney and Apple each donated $1M. | Elon Musk (Oct 2025): "The SPLC is an evil organization that spreads hate propaganda relentlessly. It needs to be shut down." Also said SPLC "funded numerous false flag 'right-wing' organizations and events. Total scam." | 2017–2026 |
| Trusted partner for Big Tech content moderation and FBI intelligence sharing | Facebook, Google, YouTube, Amazon all used SPLC designations to deplatform conservative voices and remove content. FBI severed ties after Kirk's assassination. Patel called SPLC "unfit for any FBI partnership." | FBI Director Kash Patel (Oct 2025): "The Southern Poverty Law Center long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine. Their so-called 'hate map' has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence." | 2016–2025 |
| Those who criticize SPLC are promoting "conspiracy theories" | After Kirk's assassination, SPLC accused the "hard right" of using his death to promote "conspiracy theories." After Musk's criticism, SPLC accused him of making a "Nazi salute." The DOJ is now prosecuting the organization on 11 federal counts. | Jonathan Turley (Apr 2026): "The irony is that it was the Center that sought to seize assets from groups like the KKK. Now the U.S. government is trying to, through forfeiture, seize the assets of the Center." | 2025–2026 |
| Red-highlighted rows: Claims where those who warned were attacked, dismissed, or killed.
The pattern: Every person who warned about the SPLC was targeted by the SPLC. Kirk was put on the hate map and later assassinated. Jones was mocked as a conspiracy theorist. Musk was accused of making a Nazi salute. Every warning was dismissed. The DOJ's 11-count indictment suggests every warning was right. Sources: DOJ indictment (Middle District of Alabama), NPR, Fox News, CNN, Breitbart, Daily Signal (IRS Form 990), Washington Free Beacon, Alabama Political Reporter, The Spectator, CharityWatch, SPLC financial disclosures. |
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If this indictment holds up, and there is no reason to think it will not, we have to chew on the fact of how different our country would be right now had anyone in the DOJ been willing to step up and take this group on. I can’t say for sure, but I suspect optics likely played a role, and I can confidently say that Democrats did not want to pull the thread because all of this hate benefited their party.
But think back on it… when did the racial rabbit hole and vitriol between the right and the left really start? The answer is Charlottesville. Trump had not yet been in office a year, and his comments about the riot were anchored in every attack used against him by the media and Democrats.
That comment, taken out of context, played a significant role in helping Joe Biden get elected in 2020.
The American people were being played by the very organization that pretended to be protecting them, and I am not just talking about the SPLC, but also the Democrat Party and powerful liberals.
I have often said that the left thrives on hatred and chaos, that it needs it. This indictment, if successful, proves that they were not only stoking the fire, but they were also paying for it.
