Tax dollars help groups some consider extremist to survive pandemic

The recipients don't have to repay the money if they can show it was used to keep people employed.

But the money went to more than neighborhood restaurants, local gyms and food banks.

WRAL Investigates found 20 organizations labeled as hate or extremist groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Anti-Defamation League received forgivable PPP loans totaling more than $4.5 million. Twelve of the loans have already been forgiven, and the others are categorized as ongoing, which means they’re under review or the forgiveness forms haven’t been submitted yet.

The SPLC defines hate groups as those that "vilify others because of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity."

The nonprofit New Century Foundation/American Renaissance received $51,600 to support five jobs. It already has been forgiven.

"I’ve actually said that diversity is bad for America because people of different races often don’t get along with each other and because, if this diversity keeps up, it will make white people a minority," New Century founder Jared Taylor proclaimed in a YouTube video. "Most people with any sense know that whites, on average, are smarter than Blacks. But most people with any sense, including me, also think East Asians, on average, are smarter than whites."

Similarly, Saint Michael’s Media, a deeply religious nonprofit that does business as Church Militant, obtained a PPP loan worth $302,907 to maintain 44 jobs. It also has been forgiven already.

"Homosexuality and transgenderism are disorders that place the entire unit at risk," a Church Militant reporter stated in a story about the Pentagon’s stance on sexual orientation in the ranks. "LGBT people still make up a large percentage of the population who contract the deadly AIDS virus, which, in combat, can spread to others through contact with infected blood."

Most of the 20 extremist groups that received PPP loans are also 501(c)(3) nonprofits, meaning donations to them are tax deductible.

"If they do slip through the cracks initially, it’s pretty unusual for the IRS to revoke tax exempt status," said David Heinen, vice president of public policy and advocacy at the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits.

WRAL examined the groups’ tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service. Their names and mission statements don’t raise red flags.

Heinen said the the IRS simply doesn’t have enough people in its nonprofit sector to truly vet every group applying for tax-exempt status. He added that he wasn't surprised that some groups that could be considered extremist got PPP loans.

"Clearly, there’s always going to be a small percentage of groups that are doing things for purposes that are not really for the overall good of the public," he said.

Despite what many interpret as sexually or racially discriminatory messages, only major financial red flags on yearly reports or failing to file those reports all together could put them in jeopardy of losing tax-exempt status.