The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) condemns the Department of Justice’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and affirms our solidarity with SPLC and the communities it serves.
The disability rights movement has always understood that our liberation is intertwined with the liberation of every community targeted by hate, violence, and state repression. SPLC’s decades of work tracking white supremacist groups, challenging voter suppression, and defending immigrant and LGBTQ communities have made this country more just and more accountable.
This indictment is part of a coordinated effort by the Trump administration to dismantle this country’s civil rights infrastructure — attacking the organizations, lawyers, and advocates who expose injustice and demand accountability. Disabled people know what it means to be erased by systems designed to exclude us. We know what it means when the government treats our civil rights as a threat. We also know that silence in the face of political persecution is not an option.
“The Department of Justice’s indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center is an assault on the entire civil rights community,” said Michelle Uzeta, Executive Director of DREDF. “SPLC has spent decades doing difficult and often dangerous work to expose hate and defend communities singled out for harm. DREDF has long understood that disability rights cannot be separated from the broader struggle for justice, and we will continue to fight alongside every organization facing retaliation for doing that work.”
DREDF will not be silent. We will defend civil rights work, denounce this indictment, and continue to act in solidarity with those under attack for exposing hate and demanding accountability.
