Southern Poverty Law Center

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People Believe These 10 Brands Are Most Partisan

Quartz lists the brands people consider liberal or conservative

(Newser) - As people become more divided over politics , brands choosing to stay neutral so they don't alienate consumers makes financial sense. But Quartz reports that whether or not US companies take a public stand, most Americans attribute liberal or conservative values to them. Using data from YouGov, the outlet reports...

SPLC Says Moms for Liberty Is an Extremist Group

Center blasts 'so-called parental rights activists' in annual report

(Newser) - The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Moms for Liberty as an "anti-government extremist group," along with multiple other organizations that bill themselves as "parents' rights" groups. The SPLC, which tracks hate and extremist groups nationwide, says it used long-standing criteria to designate the groups as extremist...

SPLC's Hate Groups Report Sees a Decrease

Center says dropping numbers 'suggest the extremist ideas now operate more openly'

(Newser) - As far as raw counts go, they're down: In its annual report released Wednesday, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said it recorded nearly 300 fewer hate groups in 2021 as compared to the year prior, logging 733, and about 80 fewer anti-government groups, logging 488 of those. But...

Judge: Neo-Nazi Owes 'Troll Storm' Victim $14M

Andrew Anglin told followers to harass Tanya Gersh

(Newser) - A Neo-Nazi blogger who told his followers to unleash an "old fashioned Troll Storm" on a Jewish real estate agent in Montana has been ordered to pay her $14 million. US Magistrate judge Jeremiah Lynch, who condemned the "particularly egregious and reprehensible nature" of Daily Stormer founder Andrew...

Southern Poverty Law Center Fires Leader, Doesn't Say Why

Morris Dees helped launch the nonprofit in 1971

(Newser) - The Southern Poverty Law Center has fired one of its founders. Morris Dees helped launch the civil rights nonprofit organization, now known for tracking hate groups, in 1971. No reason was given, NPR reports. But in a statement, the SPLC, which is based in Montgomery, Ala., said the conduct of...

Number of Hate Groups in US Is at Record High

Southern Poverty Law Center blames Trump, in part

(Newser) - There were 1,020 hate groups operating in the US last year—a record high, and a 7% increase from 2017, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's annual report. The last time hate groups surged in the US was in response to the election of Barack Obama as...

Clooneys Give $1M to Fight Domestic Extremists

Southern Poverty Law Center gets grant from Clooney Foundation for Justice

(Newser) - George and Amal Clooney's Clooney Foundation for Justice has given a $1 million grant to the Southern Poverty Law Center to combat hate groups in the US, the Los Angeles Times reports. "What happened in Charlottesville, and what is happening in communities across our country, demands our collective...

Sessions Made a Closed-Door Speech to 'Hate Group'

Closed-door remarks were made at event for SPLC-designated 'hate group'

(Newser) - The Alliance Defending Freedom has been designated an anti-LGBT "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center , but the group still attracted a high-profile guest speaker this week: Attorney General Jeff Sessions. CNN and NBC News reports that Sessions spoke at the "Summit on Religious Liberty" Tuesday night...

Site Raises $150K for Founder of Neo-Nazi Site

To help Daily Stormer's Andrew Anglin in suit filed by Tanya Gersh for 'campaign of terror'

(Newser) - Crowdfunded donations to Andrew Anglin, founder of the neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer, have reached $150,000 to help pay for his legal defense in a lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Per the Los Angeles Times , it took under two months to raise the money on the...

Deadhead Sells Jerry Garcia's 'Wolf' for $1.9M

'The time is right for Wolf to do some good'

(Newser) - A guitar that Jerry Garcia played everywhere from San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom to Egypt's Great Pyramids fetched over $1.9 million at an auction Wednesday night. The Grateful Dead frontman's guitar—named Wolf—was sold at the Brooklyn Bowl, a bowling alley, restaurant, and music venue. The...

Ex-KKK Leader Is Jewish Center Shooting Suspect

Frazier Cross, 73, arrested in Kansas City shootings

(Newser) - The suspect accused of shooting three people dead at two Kansas City-area Jewish sites has been identified as a former "grand dragon" of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The Southern Poverty Law Center , which tracks hate groups, says 73-year-old Frazier Glenn Cross has a long history...

For 1st Time This Century, Far-Right Groups Decline

But those left are 'leaner and meaner,' watchdog warns

(Newser) - Tough times for the far right? The number of militias, skinhead gangs, and other extremist groups in the US dropped last year for the first time since 1999, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center . The hate-group watchdog found that the number of extreme-right groups dropped around 14% to 2,...

Christians Slam Anti-Bully Day Over 'Gay Agenda'

Evangelical group to parents: Keep your kids at home

(Newser) - About 200 schools have canceled an anti-bullying program after conservative evangelicals warned that it secretly promotes the "homosexual agenda." The Southern Poverty Law Center says it designed Mix It Up Lunch Day to encourage kids to sit beside someone different—to help break up cliques and ease bullying,...

FRC Shooting: 'Hate' Label Has Gone Too Far
 FRC Shooting: 
 'Hate' Label Has 
 Gone Too Far 
Dana Milbank
Aug 17, 2012 11:45 AM CDT

FRC Shooting: 'Hate' Label Has Gone Too Far

Dana Milbank says it's time liberal groups tone down their rhetoric

(Newser) - The Family Research Council was quick to blame the shooting at its offices on its arch-rivals at the Southern Poverty Law Center, releasing a statement accusing the SPLC of giving the attacker "a license to shoot an unarmed man" by calling the FRC a "hate group." That'...

No. of Hate Groups in US: 1,018
 No. of Hate Groups in US: 1,018 
new report
Mar 8, 2012 7:29 AM CST

No. of Hate Groups in US: 1,018

It's a number that's rapidly growing: report

(Newser) - The number of hate groups in the US has been on the rise for more than a decade, and last year 1,018 were active, according to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center. That's up from 602 in 2000, the New York Times notes. The report...

Neo-Nazi Loses Racist Beliefs—and Tattoos

Pain 'a small price to pay for being human again," Bryon Widner says

(Newser) - Bryon Widner, once one of America's most notorious white supremacists, turned his back on racism—but still had a face covered in racist tattoos. Shunned by society and unable to find work, Widner says he became so desperate he considered dousing his face in acid to remove them. Instead,...

Anti-US Gov't Militias Are Awakening

(Newser) - Anti-government militia groups largely dormant during the Bush years are making a comeback and dozens of new ones are sprouting up, AP reports. Such groups, fueled by the poor economy and distrust of the Obama administration, are poised to grow rapidly, according to a report from the Southern Poverty Law...

Hate Church Plans to Picket Ledger Funeral

Baptist extremists will bash late actor for 'Brokeback' role

(Newser) - A homophobic Kansas church known for protesting at the funerals of dead soldiers has announced plans to picket Heath Ledger's funeral because he played a gay character in Brokeback Mountain, MSNBC reports. "He got on that big screen with a big, fat message: God is a liar and it's...

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