Southern Poverty Law Center: 'Moms For Liberty, a radical group pushing conspiracies'

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A Florida-based group that grew to become a national movement, with chapters everywhere, is now on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) list of radical and violent organizations.

The same list that identifies off-shoots of the KKK and the Proud Boys just got a new addition, Moms For Liberty.

Responding to this announcement, Moms For Liberty issued the following statement:

"Two-thirds of Americans think the public education system is on the wrong track today. That is why our organization is devoted to empowering parents to be a part of their child’s public school education. That is our fundamental goal, which began just two years ago when teacher’s unions locked students out of schools during the pandemic. Empowering parents continues to be our mission today and that has fueled our organization’s growth - like wildfire to now 45 states in the country. Name-calling parents who want to be a part of their child’s education as ‘hate groups’ or ‘bigoted’ just further exposes what this battle is all about: Who fundamentally gets to decide what is taught to our kids in school - parents or government employees? We believe that parental rights do not stop at the classroom door and no amount of hate from groups like this is going to stop that."

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The group started in Brevard County and on the Treasure Coast. Currently, they have 65 chapters in 45 states. They advocate for parental choices in education.

One of their first goals was opposing health mandates in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, then they became outspoken about the curriculum, namely lessons and books dealing with sexuality, gender, and race.

"Moms for Liberty and its nationwide chapters combat what they consider the 'woke indoctrination' of children by advocating for book bans in school libraries and endorsing candidates for public office that align with the group's views. They also use their multiple social media platforms to target teachers and school officials, advocate for the abolition of the Department of Education, advance a conspiracy propaganda, and spread hateful imagery and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community," states the Southern Poverty Law Center.

CBS12 News spoke with SPLC and Moms For Liberty about their positions.