The Southern Poverty Law Center works to dismantle white supremacy in public forums and online, exposes hate and anti-democracy extremism and counters disinformation and conspiracy theories with research and community resources. The Intelligence Project monitors and exposes white supremacy and its impact on communities.
Anti-democracy efforts
A central figure of Turning Point USA’s political arm has been indicted on 14 counts of election fraud. Former Arizona state Rep. Austin Smith, a leader of Turning Point Action, is charged with forging voter signatures on his nomination petition for his reelection campaign last year. If Smith is convicted, he could face jail time. The situation is laced with irony as TPUSA is one of the hard-right groups that, between 2020 and the 2024 elections, promoted so-called “election integrity” conspiracies.
Anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim activity
- The anti-immigrant hate group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) announced Dale Wilcox as its new executive director and general counsel, replacing former executive director Julie Kirchner. Wilcox comes from FAIR’s legal arm, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), another anti-immigrant hate group, underscoring the close connection between groups making up the John Tanton anti-immigrant network. The hiring comes after longtime FAIR President Dan Stein left the organization in March.
- Staffers with FAIR and IRLI attended an event in support of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which passed in July and dedicates $170 billion in funding to enforce President Donald Trump’s draconian immigration policies.
Hate prevention and male supremacy
A recent study from Dalhousie University in Canada describes the impact male supremacist online content has in classrooms. The study found female-identifying educators are most likely to experience psychological and physical harm stemming from the influence male supremacists like Andrew Tate have on young people. This issue transcends borders, with similar reports coming out of Australia and the United Kingdom. With the beginning of a new school year, the SPLC and our partners at the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab published Not Just a Joke: Understanding & Preventing Gender- & Sexuality-Based Bigotry to equip all adults who support, educate and care for young people with the tools to intervene and the resources to support those who have been harmed. These prevention resources help trusted adults support young people, while also encouraging them to engage with networks of other community leaders who can help prevent youth radicalization.
Militia and antigovernment movement activity
- A self-proclaimed sovereign citizen faces second-degree murder charges in Portland, Oregon. Police arrested Hassan M. Muse after a fatal shooting near the Portland Central Library in July. During his arraignment, Muse interrupted the judge multiple times and declared he was a “sovereign political power holder” and referred to himself as “Alpha A.” Muse pleaded innocent to charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.
- Two elected officials in Page County, Virginia, have been active with the Christian Supremacist group City Elders. Both Sheriff Chad Cubbage and Commissioner of Revenue Rebecca Smith listed their affiliation with Page County City Elders when running for their respective offices, and both won their elections. In the past, Cubbage has also voiced support for local militias. City Elders focuses on imposing a Christian Supremacist worldview in local communities by building power among elected officials.
- Richard Mack, founder and CEO of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, spoke at a rally in Minot, North Dakota, endorsing Minot mayoral candidate Josiah Roise. Roise is a former reality show contestant who calls himself the “constitutional mayor.” He has said he would like to see Ward County’s entire law enforcement under one agency that is led by a constitutional sheriff. Roise previously had used sovereign citizen tactics at traffic stops, refusing to provide information and identification to law enforcement. Roise was also a fugitive from justice for a short time in 2023 and is suing the local police and sheriff’s departments for conducting a search of his property in 2019 for bomb-making materials.
- The John Birch Society is holding its annual Leadership Conference in September in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Speakers include Michael Flynn and Matt Trewhella. Flynn is a major force in spreading anti-democratic and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. He argued for martial law in the wake of the 2020 presidential election and worked with militias. Trewhella is a pastor and author of The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates. According to ProPublica,this text “uses a 16th-century Protestant doctrine to argue that government officials have a God-given right and duty to defy laws, policies or court opinions deemed ‘unjust or immoral’ under ‘the law of God.’”
- In a late July Telegram post, Michael “Lewis Arthur” Meyer of Veterans on Patrol announced that his plans to attack the U.S. government’s alleged weather manipulation installations were a failure. Meyer cited President Trump’s unwillingness to take action as a major reason for the failure. The post also stated Meyer is currently preparing to travel to Wyoming for his next operation, titled “Operation Higher Ground,” which appears also to be related to alleged U.S. government weather weapons.
- On July 19, the X.com account of pardoned Jan. 6 participant Philip Anderson was suspended following multiple posts criticizing President Trump’s handling of the Epstein client list. The X.com account, which had over 184,000 followers, shared a post criticizing Trump and his followers that stated, “Donald Trump could line up dozens of children on the White House lawn and rape them one by one and paid influencers would still make up some 5D chess.” The ban came at a tense time in the relationship between X founder Elon Musk and President Trump.
Anti-student inclusion
- Moms for Liberty cofounder Tiffany Justice has been named executive vice president of Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation — the conservative think tank responsible for Project 2025.
- Moms for Liberty held a fundraiser in Huntsville, Alabama, in late June. The keynote speaker was controversial lawmaker and Christian nationalist Marjorie Taylor Greene. According to the organization, 200 people attended, while 150 people protested outside the venue.
- Oklahoma’s controversial Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters has enlisted PragerU, an SPLC-designated anti-student inclusion group, to design an assessment for new teachers to the state. To evaluate teachers coming from states that Walters considers having “progressive education policies,” educators will be tested on American exceptionalism and the “fundamental biological differences between boys and girls.”
Anti-LGBTQ+ movement
- In a July Substack post promoting the overturn of the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage equality, anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Them Before Us attempted to revitalize a debunked sociological study claiming children raised by gay and lesbian parents experienced poorer “sociodevelopmental” outcomes than children raised by heterosexual couples. The 2012 study by Mark Regnerus was widely cited by opponents of marriage equality to justify discriminatory state marriage laws and constitutional amendments.
- On July 24, anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Liberty Counsel filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn the 2015 Obergefell decision. The petition comes as part of the group’s ongoing representation of former Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis, who refused to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2015.
- In a July 25 commentary for the online Washington Stand, hate group leader Tony Perkins suggested Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein files was contributing to the public perception of a cover-up. “Whatever the files may — or may not — contain, the perception of a cover-up is eroding public trust, and there is not much left to erode — not just in this administration, but in our government as a whole,” Perkins wrote.
Conspiracy propagandists
- In mid-July, Lee Zeldin, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, announced his staff would compile and release all the information it has on chemtrails, one of the longest-running conspiracy theories of the antigovernment movement. Zeldin said people had long asked questions about chemtrails, which he referred to as “geoengineering and contrails.” He complained that those believing the conspiracy were “vilified by the media and their own government.” He said that would “end today,” and he would share all information found “without ANY exception.”
- Following the Department of Justice’s July 7 memo claiming Jeffrey Epstein’s death was a suicide and there was no “client list,” there has been a revival of conspiracy theories online, including Pizzagate. The Pizzagate conspiracy theory alleged a cabal of Democratic Party leaders was abusing children at a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor as part of a pedophile ring.
Extremist networks
- An exposé in The Guardian on Old Glory, a secretive network of 26 far-right men’s clubs, reveals a troubling fusion of hyper-masculine identity politics, racism, antisemitism and paramilitary ambition. Supporters framed Old Glory as patriotic brotherhoods, but these clubs mask extremist ideologies behind Americana aesthetics and survivalist rhetoric. The investigation uncovers how wealthy backers and former military personnel are cultivating a decentralized movement that blends social bonding with ideological radicalization, with a penchant for militarized training. The group’s emphasis on secrecy and selective recruitment raises alarms about its potential for coordinated action. Old Glory’s emergence signals a need for renewed scrutiny of domestic extremism cloaked in patriotic symbolism.
- The Mid Missouri Minutemen held an open hike event to introduce prospective members to the militia. At least seven people attended, with one participant carrying a flag for the group that included a symbol commonly used by Minutemen militias. According to their Telegram channel, this was one attendee’s first militia event.
White nationalist and neo-Nazi movement activity
- In early July, the Department of Justice announced charges against Noah Lamb, 24, for his alleged involvement in creating a list of public officials to target with assassination. Officials identified Lamb as an associate of the so-called Terrorgram network, a loose array of neo-Nazi channels on Telegram that encourage the use of extreme violence and terrorism. Lamb purportedly created a series of digital cards known as “The List,” which featured names, locations, photographs and affiliations of potential targets. Terrorgram affiliates described it as “a kill list in book form,” according to a federal indictment against Lamb. He faces eight charges, including conspiracy, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and interstate threatening communications. Dallas Erin Humber and Matthew Robert Allison, two other known Terrorgram administrators, were arrested and charged last September in connection with their involvement in the network. Their cases are ongoing.
- The Guardian revealed that Patriot Front took part in disaster relief efforts in central Texas to spread its hate-filled white nationalist message. This follows a Patriot Front rally in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 5 that included over 100 men in white face coverings holding metal shields, racist banners and upside-down American flags.
- In Early July, the antisemitic hate group Network Radio hosted an online forum as a follow-up to the Jewish Problem conference it held last spring. This event took place entirely on X (formerly Twitter) and, despite some connection issues, the group managed to hold a meeting that lasted several hours. It featured known antisemites, Holocaust deniers and revisionists, including E. Michael Jones and Ayo Kimathi.
Confederate monuments
- The Sons of Confederate Veterans are suing the Stone Mountain Memorial Association for beginning construction on a new exhibit designed to tell the true history of Stone Mountain and the Confederacy, including the history of slavery and Stone Mountain’s central importance to the founding of the Second Ku Klux Klan. SCV’s lawsuit is based on a decades-old state law stipulating that Stone Mountain remain a memorial to the Confederacy. However, the Georgia attorney general has moved to dismiss the case. The SPLC helped consult on the new truth-telling exhibit at Stone Mountain. The SPLC, along with local groups such as the Stone Mountain Action Coalition, is still advocating removal of Stone Mountain’s “Confederate Mount Rushmore” — the largest Confederate memorial in the world.
Image at top: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is pictured on June 12, 2025, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images.)