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Top SPLC official allegedly funneled $1.2M to neo-Nazi informant who was secret romantic partner

Top SPLC official allegedly funneled .2M to neo-Nazi informant who was secret romantic partner

A top Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) official has been accused of helping funnel more than $1.2 million in donor funds to a confidential informant who infiltrated a neo-Nazi organization — a source prosecutors say was also the official’s secret romantic partner. The details were revealed in a superseding indictment filed June 2 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the SPLC, which has faced mounting scrutiny over allegations that it funded individuals tied to extremist groups it publicly opposed. According to the document, the director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project was in a secret romantic relationship with a paid field source who infiltrated a neo-Nazi organization known as the National Alliance at the direction of SPLC.  The SPLC director reportedly shared a home with the source and allegedly used a fake company to funnel charitable funds to the partner. A significant portion of the money reportedly ended up in a shared bank account used to fund their life together. NEO-NAZIS, ‘SADISTIC’ BIKERS AND CHARLOTTESVILLE ORGANIZER: 5 OF THE MOST SHOCKING SPLC INFORMANTS Based on details laid out in the superseding indictment, the individual was identified only as the “person who would become Director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project.” The official reportedly conducted the financial transactions between 2015 and 2021. According to congressional and SPLC documents, the director at that time was Heidi L. Beirich, an extremism researcher who served in the role from 2012 to 2019. The SPLC declined to comment to Fox News Digital. DOJ SAYS SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER FUNNELED $3M+ TO WHITE SUPREMACIST AND EXTREMIST GROUPS Prosecutors allege that a fake shell company created by the SPLC, known as “Tech Writers,” was used to funnel donor money directly to the official’s romantic partner. “The SPLC actively led donors to believe that their donations would be used to ‘dismantle’ violent extremist groups,” the indictment stated. “However, the SPLC hid from donors the fact that a portion of their donated funds was being secretly used to support extremist groups and to fund their violent, racist, and extremist activities.” Investigators reportedly traced roughly $140,000 in donor funds directly from the SPLC’s main operating account through the Tech Writers shell company and ultimately into the couple’s shared personal bank account. Prosecutors said those funds accounted for roughly two-thirds of the money held in the couple’s joint accounts and were used to pay everyday household and living expenses.  

GOP Gov DeWine urges Ohio to abolish the death penalty, says it is no longer a deterrent

GOP Gov DeWine urges Ohio to abolish the death penalty, says it is no longer a deterrent

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, on Tuesday announced support for abolishing capital punishment in his state, reaffirming his change of heart on the policy he helped write as a legislator 45 years ago to reinstate the death penalty in Ohio. DeWine, who has repeatedly postponed executions during his time as governor, pointed to data showing that the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to violent crime. “For the state to take a human life, there must, in my opinion, there must be evidence that in doing so it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said at a news conference. “I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made, nor do I believe that there’s any chance in the future the facts that I’ve cited to support that belief will change,” he said. “Therefore, I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty.” TEXAS LAWMAKER PROPOSES BILL TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY IN LONE STAR STATE: ‘I THINK SENTIMENT IS CHANGING’ As he made his case, DeWine brought out charts and graphs showing the decline in both the number of death sentences handed down by courts and the quantity of executions being carried out. The data also showed the exceedingly long wait times as legal appeals play out for inmates on death row. The governor said condemned murderers are increasingly unlikely to be executed, as they sometimes die by natural causes or by suicide before they can be executed. “Even if the murderer is caught, indicted, convicted and sentenced to death, the odds are still pretty good they’re not going to be executed,” he said. “In summary, each decade that the death penalty has been in effect, the chances of a murderer getting executed get more and more and more remote,” he added. The last 10 people to be executed in Ohio had been on death row between 14 and 32 years, he said. Since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1981 under a law co-written by DeWine, 56 people who received the death sentence have been executed and 41 died by natural causes or suicide while on death row. Another 89 death sentences were overturned due to “judicial action” such as legal errors. DeWine emphasized the years of pain for victims’ loved ones due to the delays and the impact on the mental health of state employees who work on execution teams. UTAH DEATH ROW INMATE WITH DEMENTIA DIES OF NATURAL CAUSES 3 MONTHS AFTER EXECUTION WAS HALTED “I no longer believe the death penalty is a deterrent to murder,” DeWine said. “The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.” The governor, who is term-limited and cannot seek another term in the 2026 election, said he felt compelled to share his thoughts now after 50 years of experience with the death penalty issue, including as a Greene County prosecutor, a member of the U.S. House and Senate and as Ohio’s attorney general. However, he said his outright opposition to the death penalty has become solidified in the past year. DeWine urged the legislature to abolish the death penalty or to leave it up to state residents to vote on the issue, although Republican House Speaker Matt Huffman has said he would oppose such an effort. Other supporters of capital punishment have argued that Ohio’s yearslong execution pause has denied justice to victims’ families and weakened the deterrent effect of death sentences. DeWine has not authorized an execution since taking office seven years ago, citing, on numerous occasions, pharmaceutical suppliers’ unwillingness to provide the drugs used in lethal injections. Last year, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Justice Department to help states to resolve that issue. In January 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Justice Department to help states resolve that issue. The governor has said he expects no more executions during the remainder of his term. Delaying executions has left Ohio with 30 scheduled over the next four years, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The state has not put an inmate to death since July 18, 2018, before DeWine took office. “The most important way to protect the public is to lock up violent criminals and to keep them out of society,” DeWine said. “That is a proven way of saving lives and protecting our citizens. Our money and energies are much better spent focusing on keeping these repeat violent offenders out of society.” Currently, 27 states allow the death penalty while 23 states and Washington, D.C., do not, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Since 2019, including that year, three states have abolished capital punishment, while five states now authorize nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method amid ongoing controversy over lethal injection protocols. At the federal level, Trump has pushed to expand executions. During his first term, 13 federal executions were carried out, which was more than any president in modern history. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Messi hat-trick fires holders Argentina to win over Algeria at World Cup

Messi hat-trick fires holders Argentina to win over Algeria at World Cup

Argentina open defence of their World Cup crown with a Lionel Messi-inspired 3-0 win against Algeria at 2026 edition. Published On 17 Jun 202617 Jun 2026 Lionel Messi marked his record sixth World Cup appearance with his first hat-trick at a FIFA tournament – also becoming the joint-highest scorer at a World Cup – as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 to open the defence of their global crown. The former 38-year-old forward thought he had opened the scoring in the eighth minute in Kansas City on Tuesday when he slotted home from close range, but the offside flag was raised. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The dream start to his record-setting appearance, which will be matched by Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal against the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday, was not to be denied for long, though. A trademark, mazy run was capped by a drive on the edge of the box from that famed left foot. The power was too much for Algeria keeper Luca Zidane, son of World Cup winner with France, Zinedine. Messi doubled his tally on the hour mark with a simple tap-in from a rebound off the keeper following a drive from Alexis Mac Allister. The moment that was magical even for a player as decorated as Messi came in the 76th minute when he drilled low past the keeper from just outside the box. The strike took Messi level with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals. His substitution came just three minutes later to a standing ovation – even old maestro seemed disappointed to be removed, and most likely rested for Argentina’s tilt at becoming only the third side to defend a World Cup title. Algeria – the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winners – offered little, but were themselves denied an early goal when Fares Chaibi’s ninth-minute strike was ruled out for offside. Advertisement Messi saw to it that there was no opening game upset to be had at this edition, with Argentina having lost their opening game at Qatar 2022 to Saudi Arabia before defeating France in the final. The iconic Argentinian number 10, who spent the majority of his club career in Spain with Barcelona before moving to French giants Paris Saint-Germain, plies his trade in US football’s Major League Soccer with Inter Miami. It was during an end-of-season game for Miami that he sustained a minor hamstring injury that slowed him down in the lead-up to the World Cup. But the eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, which honours global football’s best player, had no problems in a tune-up last week with Iceland, scoring on a penalty kick while playing for 20 minutes. Messi’s appearance against Algeria was the 200th of his international career, which began in 2005 at the age of 18. The only players with more are Portugal’s Ronaldo, who will play in his 229th on Wednesday, and Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa, who played in 202. The Argentinian’s hat-trick also upstaged two of football’s other big stars – Kylian Mbappe of France and Erling Haaland of Norway – who had big games on Tuesday. Mbappe scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal earlier in the day and is tied for fourth on the World Cup scoring list with 14, while Haaland scored twice for Norway in their 4-1 win over Iraq. Jordan and Austria open their account in the group later on Tuesday in San Francisco. Argentina next face Austria on Monday. Adblock test (Why?)

Russian drone strikes residential building in Ukraine

Russian drone strikes residential building in Ukraine

NewsFeed A suspected Russian drone attack on a residential building in Ukraine has injured at least seven people. Emergency services responded as fire ripped through the building in Zaporizhzhia. Published On 17 Jun 202617 Jun 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)

Trump administration seeks to halt air pollution lawsuit against xAI

Trump administration seeks to halt air pollution lawsuit against xAI

US Department of Justice claims NAACP lawsuit threatens ‘national, economic, and energy security’. The United States government has intervened on the side of Elon Musk’s xAI in a legal dispute over the environmental impact of a $20bn data centre in Tennessee, claiming that efforts to block a related power project threaten national security. In a court motion filed this week, the Department of Justice requested the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing xAI of illegally operating dozens of natural gas turbines at a Southaven, Mississippi facility constructed to power the Colossus 2 data center in nearby Memphis, Tennessee. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the largest civil rights group for African Americans, filed the lawsuit in April under the 1963 Clean Energy Act, which allows citizens to seek injunctions and civil penalties against alleged polluters. The NAACP alleges that xAI erected the turbines without obtaining the necessary permits, exposing hundreds of thousands of residents in Mississippi and neighbouring Tennessee to harmful pollutants linked to “increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and certain cancers”. The lawsuit notes that a “much larger share” of residents are Black compared with the US general population. In its motion, filed in a US District Court on Monday, the Justice Department accused the NAACP of threatening “national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations”. The motion also claims that the US Constitution vests the power to seek civil penalties “conclusively and preclusively” in the executive branch, including the “discretion to decide when such an enforcement action is unwarranted or inconsistent with federal enforcement priorities”. Advertisement Adam Gustafson, the top prosecutor at the Justice Department’s environment and natural resources division, said in a statement that the government would “not sit idly by while private organisations use environmental laws to undermine our national security”. xAI, which is a subsidiary of Musk’s SpaceX, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Elon Musk listens to a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a state dinner with US President Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on May 14, 2026 [File: Mark Schiefelbein/AP] Earthjustice, an advocacy group representing the NAACP in the lawsuit, condemned the intervention as a “massive power grab” by President Donald Trump’s administration. “Trump’s Justice Department wants to shield Elon Musk’s data center company, xAI, from being held accountable for its illegal pollution – and it’s attempting to grab power from impacted communities, the courts, and Congress to do so. There is no moral or legal precedent for this,” Laura Thoms, director of enforcement for Earthjustice, said in a statement. Abre’ Conner, director of environmental and climate justice at the NAACP, said that polluters should not benefit “at the expense of the health of Black communities”. “Laws like the Clean Air Act are a bedrock insurance policy for communities to hold polluters accountable for decisions that cause them harm,” Conner said in a statement. “This should not be up for debate, and the NAACP will continue to stand up for democracy and against federal bullying and authoritarianism.” The Trump administration has cultivated close ties with Musk, the world’s richest man, tapping the tech titan as a temporary cost-cutting tsar and using xAI’s flagship model Grok in the Pentagon’s drive to become an “AI-enabled fighting force”. In testimony in support of Monday’s motion, Cameron Stanley, the Pentagon’s top official for AI, said that Grok had been used to launch more than 2,000 munitions at 2,000 targets within the first 96 hours of the US-Israel war on Iran. If Grok cannot be deployed and upgraded due to “limitations in energy supply or limited reserve compute capability”, numerous tools used by the Pentagon would be “severely impacted”, Stanley said in a declaration made under oath. Adblock test (Why?)