During a Tuesday House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), interim CEO Bryan Fair doubled down on his organization's labeling of TurningPoint USA (TPUSA) and its deceased founder, Charlie Kirk, as having an "authoritarian vision for the country that threatens the foundation of our democracy."
The SPLC went after Kirk and TPUSA, leading up to his murder in September, plastering his photo all over stories that describe Christian values and the rule of law as hateful. In a report entitled "The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024," Kirk's name appears 18 times.
In a post one day before Kirk was shot and killed, he was mentioned in the Montgomery-based organization's "Hatewatch" newsletter, which stated, "The Southern Poverty Law Center works to dismantle white supremacy in public forums and online, exposes hate and anti-democracy extremism, and counters disinformation and conspiracy theories with research and community resources. The Intelligence Project monitors and exposes white supremacy and its impact on communities."
The Trump administration recently accused the civil rights group of funneling money to extremist groups. A Montgomery grand jury returned an indictment in April charging the SPLC with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank and money laundering.
In the committee hearing, Fair was given the opportunity to recant his labeling of Kirk as an extremist, simply saying his organization would "continue to expose hate and extremism."
U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) noted that Kirk and others had been added to the SPLC's hate list and asked Fair, "Will you take back any part of that, or does your hate list stand as your position of your organization as its head today?"
“The SPLC will continue to expose hate and extremism," Fair replied.
“OK," Issa responded. "We'll take that as the list stands."
During another portion of the hearing, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) also asked Fair about Kirk being listed as an extremist, and the SPLC leader again refused.
"It is our position that TPUSA expresses views and vilifies other people based on immutable characteristics, exposing them to our listing," he told Roy.
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