A former top official of a civil rights group targeted by the Justice Department for allegedly funding the extremism they were supposed to dismantle has been arrested, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced.
Heidi L. Beirich, a former intelligence director at Southern Poverty Law Center, was arrested in California on Aug. 12 in connection with the federal government’s case against the anti-extremism group, the Justice Department said in a statement. Blanche, speaking about the case at an unrelated news conference, said the 59-year-old furthered the organization’s alleged scheme by helping open bank accounts that funneled money back to extremist organizations.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Justice Department and Beirich for comment.
The Justice Department under President Donald Trump in April first announced their case against the group long seen as an essential foil to the Ku Klux Klan. Leaders at the center said that at the time that they were "outraged by the false allegations."
This is a developing story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former Southern Poverty Law Center official arrested
