WASHINGTON, DC — The Department of Justice indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center reflects a new escalation for the Trump administration—weaponizing the legal system to intimidate and dismantle a historic civil rights organization that has, for decades, saved countless American lives and made this country safer by uncovering the work of violent hate groups.

Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), issued the following statement in response to the charges:  

“These charges are not about transparency – this is about political retaliation against a civil rights organization that challenges the administration’s power and its hateful agenda. The Southern Poverty Law Center has spent decades exposing hate and bigotry to protect our communities from violence. This is an organization that is actively fighting terrorism, not stoking it. To suggest otherwise is reprehensible; to weaponize our government against it is a blatant misuse of executive power. This is what fascism looks like, and the message is clear: bow to us, or you will be targeted.

“Let’s not forget, this indictment is coming from the same administration that pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionists and protects sexual abusers. This administration does not suddenly care about reining in extremism – all it cares about is taking down a civil rights organization that it views as a threat.

“We stand firmly behind the Southern Poverty Law Center and the critical role it plays in keeping our communities safe and our democracy intact.”

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