Wall Street Journal slams the SPLC

Back in March of 2015 the Anti-Defamation League [ADL], itself a far-left group, could no longer stomach the SPLC’s false and cringe-worthy rhetoric about hate groups.

The SPLC had just declared that the state of New Jersey was home to twenty-two active neo-nazi “skinhead groups.” Mark Pitcavage, a national spokesman for the ADL, called out the SPLC. He said the real number of active neo-Nazi skinhead groups is more like zero. Pitcavage called the SPLC’s list “wildly inflated.”

The SPLC then quietly revised their number of active neo-Nazi skinhead groups in New Jersey from twenty-two to three.

Now the Wall Street Journal [WSJ] has joined the list of major newspapers that have slammed the SPLC. The WSJ editorial section published a piece titled “The Insidious Influence of the SPLC.

The piece denounces the SPLC, saying it falsely labels people as “hate groups” and feeds polarization.

The WSJ denounced the relationship between Guidestar and the SPLC. Guidestar is a charity watchdog group. They recently flagged 46 nonprofits as “hate groups.” The groups were picked by the SPLC.

The WSJ points out that SPLC falsehoods about the highly respected social scientist Charles Murray were used as justification for a violent mob attack on one of his speaking engagements. Also, spree shooter Floyd Lee Corkins is on video saying he decided to shoot up the Family Research Council after reading the SPLC’s incendiary rhetoric about the group. (Two other spree shooters expressed public support for the SPLC on Facebook. These include Craig Stephen Hicks, and James T. Hodgkins.)

The WSJ also correctly points out that the SPLC actively downplays left-wing violence. In my opinion, the SPLC actively romanticizes and excuses left-wing violence.

Finally, the WSJ points out that the SPLC offers the victims of its attack no chance to defend themselves and never responds to criticism. The author of the piece, Jeryl Bier, says that the SPLC refused to talk to him.