‘Career Criminal’ Extremist Went To Church. The FBI Used SPLC To Launch A War On Catholics
The Justice Department released a report criticizing the FBI's Richmond Field Office for relying on the Southern Poverty Law Center to justify an investigation that targeted a Catholic community based on the actions of a convicted criminal, Xavier Lopez. Lopez, who held neo-Nazi beliefs and engaged in violent activities, attended a traditionalist Catholic church, but the church rejected his extremist ideology. The report alleges the FBI's actions amounted to religious discrimination by associating an entire religious group with the individual's crimes.
- ▪Xavier Lopez was sentenced in February 2025 to eight years in prison for possessing weapons as a felon and had a history of racially motivated violence.
- ▪The FBI memo from January 2023 used SPLC designations to link Christian communities to extremism, despite no evidence connecting Lopez's crimes to his church's teachings.
- ▪Lopez attended a Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) chapel, a traditionalist Catholic group in tension with the Vatican over doctrinal and hierarchical issues.
- ▪During a 2022 raid, law enforcement found molotov cocktails, 3D printers suspected of being used for weapons, and Nazi symbols in Lopez's home.
- ▪The Justice Department report states the FBI unjustly associated the Catholic community with Lopez's criminal behavior through a flawed guilt-by-association approach.
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US ‘Career Criminal’ Extremist Went To Church. The FBI Used SPLC To Launch A War On Catholics US DOJ/Court documents Thomas Phippen DCNF Managing Editor April 30, 2026 7:31 AM ET April 30, 2026 7:31 AM ET Thomas Phippen DCNF Managing Editor Font Size: const observer = new MutationObserver((mutations) => { const adDivToHide = document.querySelector("#dailycaller_incontent_1"); if (adDivToHide && dc_noads_page) { adDivToHide.classList.add("hide-premium", "hide-free"); observer.disconnect(); console.log("Ad div found and hidden"); } }); observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true }); A convicted criminal with violent intentions attended an irregular Catholic community, and FBI agents turned it into an anti-Catholic witch hunt.
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