Time: Sun Mar 16 13:08:05 1997
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Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 12:56:51 -0800
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: L&J: Morris Dees (fwd)
<snip>
>Sorry if this is a repost, but as I cleaned up my mailbox
>this afternoon, I found this, and am forwarding it as
>background on our good friend Morris Dees.
>
>I know I shouldn't have to say this, but for the record,
>I don't agree with Dees, his views, or his organization;
>in fact, I would relish the chance to smack him in the
>head.
>
>:)
>
>Todd
>
>
> Reprinted from: The Balance, CAUSE Foundation, PO Box
> 1235, Black Mountain, MC 28711, (704) 669-5189, FAX
> (704)669-5191.
>
> RENO, FBI, OTHER GROUPS TARGET MILITIAS
> Leader's House Raided by Gun-Wielding Feds
>
> Janet Reno, the FBI, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty
> Law Center (SPLC) in Montgomery, Alabama, and the Anti-
> Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai B'rith have declared war
> on the 29 odd patriotic militia groups that have formed
> around the United States in recent years. These groups
> have been organizing to counter their perception o an
> attack on civil rights and the U.S. Constitution by prop-
> nents of the so-called New World Order.
>
> In a recent letter to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
> Morris S. Dees, director of the SPLC, stated "There is
> growing danger posed by these unauthorized militia . . .
> The letter has been widely distributed to media sources b
> the SPLC. Dees claims that the SPLC has ''substantial
> evidence that White supremacists" have heavily infiltrate
> militia groups in at least six states, citing particularly
> Idaho and Montana. "In our view," said Dees, "this mixture
> c armed groups and those who hate is a recipe for disaster
> Dees expressed identical concerns about militias in letter
> sent to the attorney generals for Colorado, Florida, Idaho
> Montana, Nevada, and Texas. [Continued on Page 3. ]
>
>
> Militia Mayhem, Continued.
>
> In the response to special interest group pressure, federal
> agencies, including BATF and FBI, have stepped up efforts
> to counter the militia groups. BATF's Intelligence Division
> has issued a "briefing paper" on the militia movement,
> dated October 26, 1994, to local law enforcement agencies
> across the United States. The briefing paper cites as its
> purpose "To provide an overview of the militia movement
> operating in the United States." "The militia movement is a
> grassroots effort that is similar to the tax protest and
> anti-government campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s," the
> report states. "During the past six months this movement
> has swept the country." A facsimile of the briefing paper
> follows:
>
> Briefing Paper
> Intelligence Division
> October 26, 1994
>
> SUBJECT: To provide an Overview of the Militia
> Movement Operating Throughout the United States.
>
> Background:
>
> The militia movement is a grassroots effort that is similar
> to the tax Protest and anti-government campaigns of the
> 1970s and 1980s. During the past six months this movement
> has swept across the country.
>
> A catalyst of the movement was the formation of the Militia
> of Montana, a.k.a. MOM, organized after the standoff with
> Randy Weaver in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho. The Branch Davidian
> siege in Waco also fueled the spread of the movement.
>
> Militia organizers cite these incidents as well as the
> passage of the Brady Bill and the Crime Control Bill, as
> the basis for establishing militias-- the last line of
> defense against Federal law enforcement. To date militias
> have been identified in 20 states.
>
> ---
>
> In his letter to Reno, Dees said, "Citizens have the right
> to form peaceful groups to protest gun legislation and to
> engage in target practice," but he said that the militia
> groups have no right to violate state paramilitary laws or
> to "harass minorities." "I believe it is highly likely
> that illegal activity of this sort is already occurring,"
> Dees told Reno, showing that he had no evidence of its
> occurrence. Several states, including North Carolina, have
> passed anti-militia statutes under the guise of "hate
> crime" laws.
>
>
> No Poverty at Poverty Palace
>
> CAUSE believes that, with internal strife over continued
> harassment of the Ku Klux Klan, a major funding activity,
> Dees and his SPLC are targeting other groups for fund-
> raising purposes. There is little poverty at the "poverty"
> law center. The Montgomery Advertiser published a series
> of articles on the Southern Poverty Law Center and Morris
> S. Dees, the center's co-founder and chairman of its
> executive committee. Following a two-year investigation,
> the reporters said of the SPLC: "What emerges is a complex
> portrait of a wealthy civil rights organization
> essentially controlled by one man: Morris Dees."
>
> Between August 1,1984 and this past spring, "the center
> has taken in about $62-million in contributions and spend
> about $21-million on actual programs, according to federal
> tax records," the newspaper reported. During the same
> period, the center's total income from its investments
> ($22.1 million) "exceeded the amount spent on actual
> programs ($20.8-million)," according to the Advertiser.
> What this means is Dees' SPLC barely spends the interest
> on its endowment. Moreover, according to the reporters:
> "The law center, which has crusaded for the rights of
> Blacks for 2< years, is controlled by Whites. It has hired
> only two black staff attorneys in its history, both of
> whom left unhappy." The SPLC was contacted by CAUSE during
> the Branch Davidian siege at Waco to see if they would
> help prevent the tragedy the SPLC declined to get
> involved. The SPLC will use the attack on the militia
> movement to gain even more financial support. [Continued
> on Page 5.]
>
<snipped to end>
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