After Voting Rights Advocates Rally in Montgomery, Republicans Turn Their Sights on Southern Poverty Law Center

Civil rights organizations are sounding the alarm ahead of a May 20 House Judiciary Committee hearing targeting the Southern Poverty Law Center, warning that the proceeding is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to weaponize the federal government against dissenting voices and nonprofit watchdog groups. The hearing is at Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET. “Congressional Republicans are aiding and abetting the Department of Justice’s campaign of retribution against civil rights organizations and anyone who dares disagree with them,” said Fatima Goss Graves, board chair of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, warning the hearing will be "a spectacle designed to further harm an organization that has spent 50 years tracking hate groups, infiltrating extremist networks, and dismantling violent white supremacist organizations." The hearing also comes just days after thousands of voting rights advocates gathered in Montgomery, Ala.—the same city where the SPLC is headquartered—on Saturday, May 16, for the “All Roads Lead to the South” national day of action. The post After Voting Rights Advocates Rally in Montgomery, Republicans Turn Their Sights on Southern Poverty Law Center appeared first on Ms. Magazine.