Disrupting Platforms for Hate:
How We Organize Against Non-Profits that Hide Behind Fake Free Speech Claims to Amplify Hate Speech
Last week, Marylanders participated in two developing sagas that shed light on how we organize against non-profit organizations that hide behind flimsy free speech claims. Monday morning, the Arundel Patriot broke news that Anne Arundel County Councilman Michael Peroutka’s hatemongering Institute on the Constitution (IOTC) had been stripped of its tax-exempt status. Two days later, the League of Women Voters of Baltimore County hosted a raucous debate on immigration and invited Erick Ruark of NumbersUSA, a hate group, to sit on a panel of “experts” (a second debate is scheduled for 7p 10/18, Catonsville Library). These two ongoing narratives offer concrete examples of how grassroots organizers in Maryland can push back to ensure hate has no home in the Free State.
The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) revocation of tax-exempt status for Peroutka’s IOTC— which describes its mission to “restore our American Founding Fathers’ Biblical, Constitutional, American View of law and government” — is worthy of note because of the apparent lack of grassroots pressure to bring about this positive result. For slightly more than the amount of time and energy it takes a progressive to post a diatribe against a hate group on social media, we should be investigating their finances and financiers with the goal of hobbling their ability to speak and encourage hate tax-free. The Patriot article includes action steps on how to pursue such action:
“Maryland’s Secretary of State has mandatory Disclosure Requirements and Financial Statement Requirements. Specifically, “Under Business Regulation §6–411 of the Maryland Solicitations Act, a charitable organization is required to include on all written solicitations and receipts a disclosure statement. The statement must be conspicuously displayed on the solicitation and receipt.” IOTC’s website Donation page clearly lacks our State’s required disclosure statement that provides potential donors with contact information for financial documents. The State recommends the following Disclosure Statement, “A copy of the current financial statement of [IOTC] is available by writing [address where requests should be directed] or by calling (XXX) XXX-XXXX. Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis MD 21401, (410) 974–5534.”
The IRS provides a toll-free number to verify whether a nonprofit is tax-exempt and in good standing, call (877) 829–5500.
Maryland’s Secretary of State will investigate your concerns about questionable nonprofits. They provide an online reporting tool or you can call (410) 974–5530. Let the State know if you have been contacted by a charity or things don’t sound right to you.”
Isn’t it ironic that Donald Trump’s IRS, with no visible urging from progressives, took out one of White Supremacist County Councilman Peroutka’s legs? While we revel in this irony, let’s also add this tool to our kit as we move forward, and work in community and solidarity with folks doing good work on the ground in Anne Arundel.
The same day news of IOTC’s tax-exempt status revocation appeared in the Gazette, the League of Women Voters of Baltimore County gave a platform to NumbersUSA, a hate group that advocates for the deportation of babies via revocation of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Numerous grassroots groups, including the Baltimore County Green Party as well as various Indivisible chapters, had urged the League in the lead up to the event to rescind their invitation to NumbersUSA’s Erick Ruark to sit alongside UM Law Professor Maureen Sweeney and Esperanza Center’s Eric Seymour. The League declined to uninvite Ruark, and refused to apologize for giving a platform to a hate group, NumbersUSA.
Watch the full video below to see the at times uncomfortable exchange that lead to the League moderator refusing to have Ruark answer the author’s question about baby deporation, at which point he threatened Nathan Feldman (Green Party House of Delegates candidate in northwest Baltimore County’s 11th District) before storming off:
Despite the success of chasing off a White Supremacist and calling out his enablers, grassroots organizers came up short when it came to tactics and prioritization of a shared primary objective. The second part of the debate included a panel of representatives from the five recognized electoral parties in Maryland: Andrew Reinel (Green Party), Delegate Pat Young (Democrat Party), x (Libertarian Party), y (Independence Party), z (Republican Party). After Ruark had stormed off, it was clear that the Green Party had the best ideas and put forward a representative with the longest track record of immigration work of any of the parties. By focusing on grassroots democracy and shutting down hate speech, instead of centering immigrant empowerment and solidarity, disruptors put social justice at the back of the bus. We can, must, and will do better at the next League-hosted debate on 7p 10/18 at the Catonsville Library (1100 Frederick Rd, Catonsville, MD 21228).
Please watch Sanctuary Streets Baltimore Court Support co-founder Andrew Reinel’s portion of the debate, which contrasted sharply with Democrat Del. Pat Young’s largely amorphous positions, which included greater border security and an easier path to immigrant enlistment in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Finally, please call on the League of Women Voters of Baltimore County to uninvite Southern Poverty Law Center hate group certified FAIR representative Jonathan Hanen via their Facebook page, emailing their Board (see below) and info address (lwvbaltimore@comcast.net), and calling their Towson office at (410) 377–8046.
Let’s build, together, a strong local movement against hate groups and their enablers!
