Washington Examiner columnist Guy Benson argued that critics are quicker to blame conservatives for political violence than to examine the Southern Poverty Law Center’s controversial “hate map.”Benson’s comments came as House Republicans scrutinized the organization’s hate-group designation process during a Judiciary Committee hearing, raising broader questions about the SPLC’s practices and recent allegations surrounding its operations. “The hate map that this group puts out included FRC, which was shot up by a leftist, and Charlie Kirk. And we know what happened there,” Benson said on Fox News’s The Big Weekend Show Saturday.
The SPLC is a nonprofit organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, whose mission, according to its website, is to change the trajectory of racial injustice and fight white supremacy.
On April 21, 2026, the organization was indicted on 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
The organization continued to face scrutiny Tuesday when Republicans questioned why its widely cited hate map excludes violent antifa-affiliated groups, the pro-abortion-rights group Jane’s Revenge, and Islamic organizations that oppose LGBT rights.
