At least 60 organizations are considering lawsuits against the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), following anti-extremist activist Maajid Nawaz’s victory against the group, which concluded with the SPLC apologizing and paying out over $3 million.
According to PJ Media, the organizations, which have been branded as “hate groups” by the SPLC, are encouraged by Nawaz’s victory, after the SPLC listed Nawaz in a guide to “anti-Muslim extremists,” despite the fact that Nawaz is Muslim himself.
“We haven’t filed anything against the SPLC, but I think a number of organizations have been considering filing lawsuits against the SPLC, because they have been doing to a lot of organizations exactly what they did to Maajid Nawaz that’s part of the settlement,” declared Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, whose group is listed as an “anti-LGBT” hate group on the SPLC’s “extremist files.”
“This is a significant settlement… 3.375 million dollars, and it did not even go to litigation; it was a result of a demand letter,” Staver expressed, adding that “the allegations that were at issue here were very similar to the allegations against the other groups.”
“The SPLC promotes false propaganda, demonizes and labels groups they disagree with, and that labeling has economic as well as physical consequences,” he continued, before claiming, “There are probably about 60 organizations that we’re talking to — there’s at least 60,” which are considering a lawsuit.
Roback Morse, the founder of the Ruth Institute, also claimed the SPLC’s “apology to Mr. Nawaz has caused us to consider our options,” while a spokesman for the Family Research Council, which fell victim to a left-wing domestic terrorist attack after being listed as a hate group on the SPLC, declared, “We are reviewing all our legal options.”
Convicted domestic terrorist Floyd Lee Corkins II was inspired by the SPLC’s “hate map” to attempt a mass shooting at the Family Research Council (FRC), a conservative Christian organization in Washington, D.C., in 2012.
The SPLC is currently partnered with Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Spotify, and both Hollywood actor George Clooney and Apple CEO Tim Cook have donated millions of dollars to the organization.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.