FBI SHUTS DOWN PARTNERSHIP: Director Kash Patel Cites “Hate Map” and Partisan Activism in Severing All Ties with Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a major development with significant implications for how federal law enforcement interacts with activist organizations, the FBI has severed all ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). FBI Director Kash Patel made the announcement on Friday, stating that the group’s “hate map” and overtly partisan activism made the SPLC unfit for partnership with the Bureau.
The SPLC, an Alabama-based organization best known for identifying and tracking what it classifies as hate groups, has long drawn criticism from conservative and religious organizations it labels as extremist.
The “Hate Map” and Claims of Partisan Smears
In a post on X, Director Patel was explicit about the reason for the separation:
“The Southern Poverty Law Center long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine. Their so-called ‘hate map’ has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence. That disgraceful record makes them unfit for any FBI partnership.”
Patel referred back to his April pledge during a Justice Department task force on anti-Christian bias, where he stated the FBI “will never rely on politicized or agenda-driven intelligence from outside groups—and certainly not from the SPLC.”
The Turning Point USA Controversy
The decision comes amidst intense scrutiny over the SPLC’s labeling practices, particularly the inclusion of the mainstream conservative student organization, Turning Point USA (TPUSA), on its “hate map.”
- The SPLC had labeled TPUSA as extremist and connected to white nationalism—a charge the group’s founder, Charlie Kirk, consistently denied.
- Following the tragic assassination of Kirk at Utah Valley University by a leftist suspect, the connection between the SPLC’s labeling and the subsequent violence gained national attention.
- Though Reuters reported TPUSA was listed on the map as recently as Friday afternoon, independent reviews indicate the group no longer appears in the SPLC’s public database, though the SPLC has not commented on its removal.
This is not the first instance where a group featured on the SPLC’s map has been linked to violence. In 2012, Floyd Lee Corkins II confessed to the FBI that he targeted the Family Research Council’s headquarters after finding the Christian organization listed on the SPLC’s map for opposing same-sex marriage.
Second Federal Split This Week
The severance of ties with the SPLC marks the second such high-profile split for the FBI this week, following a decision to also cut contact with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which had similarly included TPUSA on its own “Center on Extremism” list.
This move by the FBI signals a profound policy change regarding which external groups the Bureau will rely on for intelligence regarding domestic extremism and hate crimes.
Follow the Ridgewood blog has a brand-new new X account, we tweet good sh$t
https://twitter.com/TRBNJNews
https://truthsocial.com/@theridgewoodblog
https://mewe.com/jamesfoytlin.74/posts
#news #follow #media #trending #viral #newsupdate #currentaffairs #BergenCountyNews #NJBreakingNews #NJHeadlines #NJTopStories
Tags (for Blog Platform): FBI, SPLC, USPolitics, FederalLawEnforcement, KashPatel, TurningPointUSA, HateGroups, DomesticExtremism.
