Moms for Liberty founder says SPLC hate label ‘painted a target on our backs’
Jeremiah Poff
The co-founder of the grassroots parent organization Moms for Liberty says the Southern Poverty Law Center has “painted a target” on the backs of parents by labeling her organization an extremist hate group.
The SPLC added several parental rights groups, such as Moms for Liberty and Parents Defending Education, to its “hate map” after it released its “The Year in Hate and Extremism” report for 2022. The map labels the parent groups as “anti-government.”
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Tiffany Justice, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty, told the Washington Examiner in an interview that her organization’s inclusion in the map and report was “insulting” and “absurd” and could have safety implications for the organization’s thousands of members.
“They just painted a target on our backs,” Justice said of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “They painted it on the backs of American moms and dads.”
Justice, along with her co-founder Tina Descovich, wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Sunday that said being included on the SPLC’s hate map “can do real harm” and cited a retracted FBI memo that relied on SPLC reports to justify investigations into communities of traditional Catholics.
“If you’re an American parent, you should be paying attention,” the Moms for Liberty co-founders wrote. “The SPLC map could lead to a government crackdown on you — your ability to question school officials, testify at school board meetings, or be involved in what curriculum your child is being taught.”
Justice told the Washington Examiner that she is “weighing all of my options,” including a lawsuit against the SPLC over the organization’s inclusion.
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“The media and others have tried to paint us as a far-right-wing organization, and it’s just not true, and it’s unfortunate because it’s the silencing and suppressing of the voices of the American people,” Justice said. “Moms for Liberty is not backing down. We’re going to stand our ground. We’re not doing anything wrong.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center did not respond to a request for comment.