WASHINGTON, DC – In response to yesterday’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) Vice President Praveen Fernandes issued the following reaction:

Yesterday’s indictment should alarm anyone who cares about the rights and freedoms of all Americans. For over 50 years, the Southern Poverty Law Center has documented violence and hate, playing a key role in a civil rights movement that has strengthened our nation. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that a presidential administration helmed by a man who has offered clemency to members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers would now go after the nonprofit organization that monitors such dangerous extremist groups. Our Constitution and our nation’s laws, including our nation’s civil rights statutes, have long depended upon civil society groups to make real the law’s promises—including the promise that people can work, vote, and live free of discrimination and fear. We are all less safe when groups that do such critical work are targeted and intimidated.