A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on April 21, 2026, on 11 counts, including wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors allege the nonprofit secretly funneled more than $3 million in donor funds between 2014 and 2023 to informants embedded in groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of America to help stage incidents used for fundraising.
The indictment has triggered fresh scrutiny of local journalism that leaned heavily on SPLC data. In Nashville, conservative newsletter The Pamphleteer highlighted liberal activist Phil Williams of NewsChannel 5, whose multi-year “Confronting Hate” series frequently cited SPLC research on local “extremists.” Williams has been an ardent opponent of Christian Nationalism and efforts to build a Christian community in Tennessee. This week, he released podcast with woke apologist, Neil Shenvi, in his latest smear on Christians.
The Pamphleteer notes:
If you were at all familiar with the SPLC’s work at the time of Williams’ shift, his coverage would’ve stuck out to you as directly reflective of the nonprofit’s efforts. As I said early on in Williams’ foray, “These stories fall neatly into the dominant narrative of ‘increasing white supremacy’ set by media outlets like MSNBC and the New York Times—not to mention NGOs like the Southern Poverty Law Center—in the leadup to the 2024 presidential election.”
The mostly directionless reporting saw the Footman wander as far as two hours outside of Nashville to find figures with podcasts who said offensive things. Most of his reporting consists entirely of excerpts pulled from these podcasts.
An early story in the series that is instructive about how much Williams pulls from the SPLC’s work is headlined ‘A white supremacist warned me to comply with his demands or else. Now, he’s in federal custody.’
As The Pampleteer’s Virgil Davis Hunt further explains:
Footman Phil Williams got into bed with the SPLC a few years ago and built an entire series off watching and writing about podcasters within a two hour drive of Nashville who fit the SPLC’s definition of “extreme.”
He seeded the impression that “white supremacy” was on the rise in Middle Tennessee and that Republicans were to blame. He was given awards for his work.
Yesterday’s indictment should bring all of that into question, and additionally, raises questions about the extent of Williams collaboration with the SPLC.
