TPUSA Officials Testify on SPLC's Role in Creating Environment Leading to Charlie Kirk Attack

[00:00] uh limiting our time. I appreciate the

[00:01] witness's uh patience for coming here u

[00:04] and when we were a little late uh

[00:06] starting. I'm only going to use about a

[00:08] minute here to wrap up uh with my normal

[00:10] questioning. Um I think that a lot of

[00:13] the things that we wanted to illuminate

[00:14] have been illuminated. The only thing

[00:16] that I want to just finish here with is

[00:19] and specifically for you uh Mr. cipher,

[00:22] given the um circumstances of what

[00:25] occurred this year in se in September,

[00:28] is is it your considered judgment and

[00:30] the considered judgment of the people

[00:31] that you associate with at TPUSA

[00:34] that the focus by not just the Southern

[00:37] Property Law Center, but by those that

[00:39] are trying to designate people for

[00:42] expressing free speech views and

[00:43] expressing their views on biblical

[00:45] principles or other principles that

[00:47] people find objectionable, but labeling

[00:49] that as hate and specific specifically

[00:51] SPLC. Do you believe that that created

[00:54] an environment that led to the attack on

[00:56] Charlie?

[00:58] >> Most definitely. I find it ironic that a

[01:01] civil rights organization

[01:03] is marginalizing over half the country

[01:06] in their viewpoints. on college

[01:08] campuses. What you see is when people

[01:11] celebrate violence as we saw post

[01:15] assassination, it shows the sad state of

[01:18] this country and that means that

[01:20] communication and dialogue is dying.

[01:23] Charlie fought against that. That's why

[01:26] so many people crave to come to his

[01:27] permy wrongs. That's why they crave to

[01:29] see him work through those thoughts with

[01:31] disagreeers because people need to talk

[01:36] for violence to be done away with.

[01:39] >> Mr. Perkins, you stated earlier that it

[01:41] was your belief that the purpose of this

[01:42] hearing as I share was to focus on the

[01:46] extent to which not just the SPLC but

[01:48] generally when the government is then

[01:50] utilizing these organizations

[01:52] effectively as a tool uh to carry out

[01:54] its objectives that that's now a

[01:56] different world. That's not just talking

[01:57] about speech. That has an oversight

[02:00] function for us to understand how that

[02:01] labeling is then having an effect on our

[02:04] legal system, on civil rights in

[02:05] general. Is that correct?

[02:07] >> It is correct. And to Mr. Cipher's

[02:09] point, as the government elevates that

[02:12] voice and legitimizes that voice, the

[02:14] media takes it and runs with it, the

[02:17] dialogue that we had in this city and

[02:20] then in this nation 15, 20 years ago has

[02:22] ceased and it does lead to to the

[02:25] violence. The best way to stop the

[02:27] violence is to have the conversations

[02:29] and to allow people of differing views

[02:32] to speak even when you disagree with

[02:34] them. That's what a healthy nation does.

[02:38] The Southern Poverty Law Center is about

[02:41] silencing, not facilitating.

[02:43] >> I thank uh Thank you, Mr. Perkins. Out

[02:45] of respect for my colleagues who have

[02:47] shortened their time, I'm going to do

[02:48] the same. I appreciate the witnesses.

[02:50] That concludes today's hearing. We thank

[02:52] the witnesses for appearing before the

[02:53] subcommittee today. Without objection,

[02:54] all members will have five legislative

[02:56] days to submit additional written

[02:57] questions.