Department of Justice officials announced Tuesday that they have filed an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center, a well-known civil rights organization, on charges in connection with "not dismantling extremism but funding it."
According to Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, the Montgomery, Alabama,-based organization was funneling millions of dollars to organizations including the Ku Klux Klan and the Nationalist Socialist Party of America.
"SPLC paid members of these extremist groups," Blanche told reporters on April 21. "To that end, it was doing the exact opposite of what it told its donors it was doing, not dismantling extremism but funding it."
USA TODAY has reached out to the Law Center for comment.
The federal indictment of the group known for defending victims of the KKK and other violent, racially charged crimes comes hours after the organization told outlets, including The New York Times, that it was facing a federal investigation.
