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AADM launches Justice Advocate training & Community Defense Mobile Clinic. Bringing advocacy, education, resources, and pathways to justice directly to the community. ATHENS, GA - August 17, 2026 - The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement (AADM) is launching the Community Defense Mobile Clinic, a mobile, community-based initiative that brings advocacy, resources, education, support, and pathways to justice directly to the people. In partnership with Indivisible 10 and the Southern Poverty Law Center, AADM is also recruiting and training volunteers to become Justice Advocates. Join the AADM Community Defense Team. The Mobile Clinic will focus on three areas: Police - Jail - discrimination. Community members will receive assistance with understanding their rights, documenting concerns, navigating court and complaint processes, filing official complaints, and connecting with trusted legal and community resources. Become a Justice Advocate. AADM's three-part training series will prepare volunteers to help community members navigate these systems and pursue accountability. September 19 - Understanding Civil Rights Violations & Court Systems Athens, GA October 17 - Police & Jail Accountability: Know Your Rights Monroe, GA November 21 - Understanding Probation & Reentry Athens, GA December 2026 - AADM Community Defense - Freedom Clinic (LTBA) Athens, GA "You don't have to be a lawyer to make a difference," said Mokah Jasmine Johnson, co-founder of AADM. "With the right training, everyday people can become powerful advocates for their communities." Support the Community Defense Mobile Clinic. Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement need community support to take this work directly into neighborhoods through mobile clinics, volunteer training, education, and outreach. Help Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement bring community defense directly to the people. Become a Justice Advocate. Know your rights. Learn the system. Help your community.

Former SPLC director Heidi Beirich arrested on fraud and money laundering charges. 5 hours ago Heidi Beirich, a former high-ranking official at the Southern Poverty Law Center, faces multiple charges for alleged fraudulent activities involving payments to informants, including personal financial benefits. | PULSE POINTS | | WHAT HAPPENED: Heidi Beirich, formerly Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), has been arrested and charged with fraud conspiracy, bank fraud, and conspiracy to conceal money laundering. She is accused of funneling over $1 million to a neo-Nazi group informant and misusing donor funds for personal expenses. DETAIL: Beirich, identified as "Employee-2" in court documents, allegedly directed payments to a joint account she shared with an informant connected to the neo-Nazi National Alliance. The funds, originating from SPLC donors, were used to cover personal expenses, including housing. Previous reports have suggested that at least one informant was also her lover. Additionally, Beirich is accused of orchestrating payments to another informant to cover up a burglary at the SPLC's headquarters, which she later wrote about in a 2015 article. The SPLC itself was previously indicted on similar charges, including wire fraud and money laundering, earlier this year. KEY QUOTE: "I believe she was part of the effort to open bank accounts in completely fictitious companies' names and make payments to individuals for reasons that were not accurate as described." - Attorney General Todd Blanche IMPACT: The charges against Beirich spotlight the broader allegations of financial misconduct against the SPLC, raising questions about the misuse of donor funds and the organization's operational integrity. Beirich's case is likely to further erode public trust in the once-prominent civil rights group. FLASHBACK: The SPLC has faced scrutiny for years over allegations of financial mismanagement and questionable practices, such as paying extremist groups for supposed informant work, even allegedly funding cross-burnings. Significantly, these same groups and activities provide the SPLC with its primary purpose for existing, with critics arguing they have a financial interest in manufacturing and signal-boosting extremism, where it would otherwise not exist or remain marginal. | Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses. By Popular Demand. The National Pulse Now has an on-site comments section for members. Sign up today and be part of the conversation in its community of almost 15,000.

Southern Poverty Law Center indictment: what nonprofits should know. Client alertslitigation & disputesnonprofitsouthern Poverty Law Center indictment: what nonprofits should know. August 6, 2026 Earlier this year, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was indicted in an Alabama federal court on charges of wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy. The superseding indictment filed on June 2, 2026, sets forth grand jury allegations of a scheme in which the SPLC "fund[ed] the leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations, and the National Alliance," with money which the SPLC had raised with representations that it would be used to fight these very groups. According to the grand jury's charges, the SPLC funded extremist groups through paid informants known as "field sources," and made false statements to set up bank accounts for fictitious entities in order to execute the transfers. For its part, SPLC has indicated in court filings that its field sources are part of an investigative informant program, which the SPLC has used to report planned or suspected criminal activity to law enforcement. The case remains in the early stages. This month, SPLC entered a plea of not guilty on all counts. It has also filed a motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds of vindictive prosecution, arguing that the prosecution has been brought in retaliation for SPLC's speech protected by the First Amendment. As of this publication, the court has not yet announced a decision on that motion, and trial is scheduled to begin on October 5, 2026. The case has drawn headlines and public attention, including with public statements from both Government officials and SPLC's representatives and supporters. Yet for nonprofit organizations looking to understand their legal obligations, it may be most helpful to go back to the federal statutes underlying the indictment, and the conduct which is alleged to make out each violation. Counts 1-6 charge the SPLC with wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343, of which the elements are: "(1) a scheme to defraud; (2) knowing and willful participation in the scheme with the intent to defraud; and (3) the use of interstate or foreign wire communications to further that scheme."[1] In brief, these counts charge that the SPLC defrauded its donors: that it "sought donations under the explicit indication that donor money would be used to help 'dismantle' violent extremist groups," then directed some donor funds instead to "the benefit of the violent extremist groups," including use "in the commission of state and federal crimes."[2] The basis of SPLC's potential liability for wire fraud, however, is not the underlying criminal or extremist activity of the groups it allegedly supported. Rather, it is SPLC's alleged fraud on its donors. Counts 7-10 next charge the SPLC with false statements to a federally insured bank, under 18 U.S.C. § 1014. These counts target SPLC's alleged opening of false bank accounts, under various names of fictitious entities, in order to transfer funds to its "field sources" without detection.[3] In each instance, the indictment charges that an SPLC employee submitted to the bank a false certification of the fictious entity. Finally, Count 11 charges SPLC with conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering, under 18 U.S.C. § 1956. This conspiracy count is predicated on the prior charges, and further alleges steps taken by the SPLC "to conceal the true nature, source, ownership, and control of fraudulently obtained donated money the SPLC paid to [field sources]."[4] Nonprofit organizations should remain mindful of their duties of disclosure and candor in their operations. The wire fraud statute, for example, broadly covers schemes "for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises."[5] As the United States Supreme Court recently affirmed, "a defendant commits federal fraud whenever he uses a material misstatement to trick a victim into a contract that requires handing over her money or property."[6] While a nonprofit may from time to time conduct projects involving a degree of confidentiality or sensitivity, such work cannot put an organization in the position of deceiving or misleading its donors. Partridge Snow & Hahn's Nonprofit & Tax-Exempt Practice Group is ready to advise parties with questions or concerns. [1] United States v. Abbas, 165 F.4th 659, 670 (1st Cir. 2026). [2] Superseding Indictment, ¶ 22. [3] "To establish a violation of § 1014, the government must prove that (1) the defendant made a false statement; (2) the defendant acted knowingly; and (3) the false statement was made for the purpose of influencing action on the loan." United States v. Alfonzo-Reyes, 592 F.3d 280, 291 (1st Cir. 2010). [4] Superseding indictment, ¶ 37. For the legal elements of the conspiracy charge, see United States v. Raymundi-Hernandez, 984 F.3d 127, 142-43 (1st Cir. 2020) (Elements of the crime are that the accused "(1) knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, (2) conspired to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, (3) with knowledge that the transaction is designed in whole or in part... to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity.") (quotation marks and brackets omitted). [5] 18 U.S.C. § 1343. [6] Kousisis v. United States, 605 U.S. 114, 118 (2025). Get in touch. General Inquiry How did you hear about Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP.?