DOJ Indicts SPLC: Civil Rights Groups Rally

0:00It's April 24th. Welcome in. This is California News Today, where local news meets AI. The Justice Department just dropped the major indictment on the Southern Poverty Law Center, charging them with wire fraud, bank fraud, and money. Londering, prosecutors say the group's long-running network of paid informants inside hate groups like the Klan violated federal law by funneling donor cash, too. Extremists and misleading supporters. This comes after years of tension, with conservatives slamming the SPLC as a partisan outfit for labeling right-wing groups as hateful. The group, based in Alabama since 1971, built its rep-tracking white supremacists and pushing on voting rights and immigration. Civil rights leaders aren't shot. They've been bracing for this under the Trump administration. Right after the news hit, they jumped on calls to rally behind the SPLC, issuing statements, sending protests, and vowing to fight in the public eye, while judicial battles drag on. Now, these orbs are prepping hard for their own legal heat, auditing docs, tweaking structures,

1:04even eyeing for profit shifts to shield funds. It's a big pivot from when the DOJ was an ally in civil rights fights. Coalition are linking arms, sharing resources with a simple mantra, and attack on one hits us all. They're not chilling. They're mobilizing to push back against what they call weaponized probes.