Media release: Dustin Inman Society announces new legal team - Donald A. King and Dustin Inman Society v. Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc #SPLC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 10, 2023

The Dustin Inman Society

D.A. King

Georgia’s only pro-enforcement immigration group announces expanded legal team

Re: Donald A. King and Dustin Inman Society v. Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc

Marietta, GA: D.A. King, president of the Dustin Inman Society (DIS) today announced the newly formed legal team as counsel defending against accusations from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which defamed the organization and King by labeling King as leader of an “anti-immigrant hate group that denigrates all immigrants.”

The nationwide public interest religious civil liberties law firm Liberty Counsel has joined the legal team as counsel defending the Dustin Inman Society (DIS) and its founder and president, D.A. King.

Todd McMurtry, a partner in Hemmer Wessels McMurtry PLLC. will be co-counsel on the legal team. McMurtry is a nationally recognized defamation attorney.

James McKoon, of McKoon and Gamble law firm in Phenix City, Alabama, will serve as local counsel. McKoon initially filed this lawsuit against the SPLC.

In Donald A. King and Dustin Inman Society v. Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc., U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins denied the SPLC’s motion to dismiss the case in April 2023. This now becomes the first “hate group” defamation case against the SPLC that will move forward with discovery.

“It came as quite a surprise to the proud immigrants on our diverse board of advisors and our immigrant supporters to learn that the SPLC uses their vast wealth and influence with the media to convince the world that we somehow hate immigrants” remarked DIS president, D.A. King. “More so considering that in 2011 the SPLC informed the Associated Press that we did not fit the SPLC’s own definition of “anti-immigrant hate group” for their ridiculous, annual “hate map” several years earlier. But that was before they started lobbying against immigration enforcement legislation in Georgia.”

“We are proud to be actively pro-enforcement on immigration. The record shows that the SPLC takes an anti-enforcement position on the issue. It seems they hate their political opposition and are willing to prove it,” says King.

King expressed concern for his personal safety and that of his family due to the reputation of SPLC supporters and staff for violence against political opponents.

Please see the earlier media release from Liberty Counsel.
Please see today’s news report from Tyler O’Neil at The Daily Signal – ‘Nick Sandmann’s Attorney Joins Lawsuit Against SPLC.‘

—>UPDATE: The liberal AJC prints a lengthy correction after demand letter from the Dustin Inman Society. More news on this coming soon.

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Daily Signal News report (‘DEFAMATORY’: Conservative Demands Swing-State Newspaper Retract ‘Hate Group’ Smear’)
on the recent AJC attack here by the great Tyler O’Neil.

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I added educational hyperlinks to the below letter – dak.

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October 18, 2024

VIA U.S. REGULAR MAIL & E-MAIL

Leroy Chapman, Jr., Editor in Chief THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION 223 Perimeter Center Pkwy NE Atlanta, Georgia 30346

Re: Demand for Retraction and Apology

Dear Mr. Chapman, Jr.:

I write on behalf of my client, the Dustin Inman Society (DIS), to demand an immediate retraction and apology for the defamatory statements published in your October 7, 2024, article titled “Democrats in this Georgia district are backing a write-in candidate” by Tia Mitchell.

Through use of internet links, the AJC article wrongfully characterizes the Dustin Inman Society as a “Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group.” This characterization is false, defamatory, and published with actual malice. The Dustin Inman Society pushes for secure borders, is not “anti-immigration” and its proprietors do not hate anyone. Rather, DIS advocates for enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and actively opposes unlawful immigration. This distinction is crucial and well-known to staff at your publication.

I paste the offending paragraph from the AJC story:

“A search of activity under her birth name, Karen Sacandy, which Stamper legally changed in 2019, showed that she previously was aligned with a Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group. The group’s website often linked to Sacandy’s activities, like a letter seeking information about the state’s Immigration Enforcement Review Board and a copy of a letter to the editor supporting legislation to prevent immigrants claiming asylum from obtaining driver’s licenses.”

HEMMER WESSELS MCMURTRY PLLC
250 Grandview Drive, Suite 500, Ft. Mitchell, KY 41017 ● Phone 859.344.1188 ● Fax 859.578.3869

October 18, 2024 Page 2

We note the AJC informs readers that the Dustin Inman Society “often” linked to Karen Sacandy/Kate Stamper activities — but produces only two occasions.

Your story, for which DIS founder and president D.A. King was not contacted, informs readers that Sacandy/Stamper “was aligned” with the Dustin Inman Society. We note that polls show that a majority of Americans oppose the federal offense of illegal immigration. Since the letter posted on the DIS site was a published missive to the editor at the Cherokee Tribune, we must ask: does this make that newspaper a “Cherokee County-based anti-immigration hate group”?

Your characterization demonstrates a reckless and vindictive disregard for the truth, rising to the level of actual malice as defined in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Actual malice in defamation law refers to publication of a statement with knowledge that it is false or with reckless disregard of whether it is false or not. Your repeated mischaracterization of the Dustin Inman Society, despite having been corrected on numerous occasions, clearly meets this standard.

The Dustin Inman Society’s position on immigration is clear and public:

1. It supports sustainable levels of legal immigration through established channels.

2. It opposes unlawful immigration due to various societal concerns, including: – Strain on public resources and services
– Potential and real public safety issues
– Economic impacts on low-wage American workers and America’s poor

– Challenges to the rule of law

3. The Dustin Inman Society defends legal immigrants when media attempt to blur the difference between them and illegal aliens.

Moreover, the Dustin Inman Society’s board includes lawful immigrants who have navigated the proper channels for authorized immigration. This fact alone should dispel any notion that the organization is “anti-immigration.” As he has informed you multiple times over much of the last two decades, D.A. King’s sister is a real, legal immigrant.

While we acknowledge that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the Dustin Inman Society as an “anti-immigrant hate group that denigrates all immigrants,” your article presents the “anti-immigration hate group” characterization as the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s independent assessment and statement of fact.

This smear is not only demonstrably false and ignores Mr. King’s many communications to you advising you of the truth, but also demonstrates an exceedingly unprofessional failure to fact-check and verify information before publication.

We demand that the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

October 18, 2024 Page 3

1. Immediately publicly retract the defaming statement in the October 7, 2024, article.

2. Publish a prominent apology, equal in visibility and placement to the original defamatory article.

3. Cease and desist from further defamatory characterizations of the Dustin Inman Society.

Failure to comply with these demands may result in further legal action. We expect your prompt attention to this matter and await your timely response.

Sincerely,

Todd V. McMurtry

cc: James Abely, Esq.