Quick Fact: CNS falsely claims Southers described groups "having 'Christian Identity'" as domestic threat

From the January 14 CNSNews.com article:

Fact: Southers did not identify domestic terror groups as "having 'Christian Identity'"

Southers identified hate groups that "claim to be extremely anti-government and Christian Identity-oriented" as a domestic threat. In his April 17, 2009 interview, which was embedded in the CNSNews.com article, Southers was asked, "are there groups inside the United States that pose danger to our security?" He replied:

Domestically speaking, a large part, most of the groups we have here in the United States, are white supremacists groups. World Church of the Creator, National Alliance, Aryan Nations, there are some black separatist groups. What's interesting about those groups is you find that they are usually either Christian Identity groups and/or groups that really have a foothold in our correctional or prison systems in the way of radicalization and recruiting.

Southers subsequently was asked: "Which home-grown terrorist groups pose the greatest danger to the U.S.?" Southers responded:

Most of the domestic groups that we have to pay attention to here are white supremacist groups. They're anti-government, in most cases anti-abortion. They are usually survivalist type in nature, Identity oriented. If you recall, Buford Furrow came to Los Angeles in -- I believe it was 1999 when he went to three different Jewish institutions, museums, and then wound up shooting people at a children's community center, then shooting a Filipino postal worker later on. Matthew Hale, who's the Pontifex Maximus of the World Church of the Creator out of Illinois, and Ben Smith, who went on a shooting spree in three different cities where he killed a number of African-Americans and Jews and Asians that day. Those groups are groups that claim to be extremely anti-government and Christian Identity-oriented.

FACT: Christian Identity movement reportedly a "hate group" with "virulent racist and anti-Semitic beliefs"

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), "Christian Identity is a religious ideology popular in extreme right-wing circles. Adherents believe that whites of European descent can be traced back to the 'Lost Tribes of Israel.' Many consider Jews to be the Satanic offspring of Eve and the Serpent, while non-whites are 'mud peoples' created before Adam and Eve. Its virulent racist and anti-Semitic beliefs are usually accompanied by extreme anti-government sentiments." Similarly, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists Christian Identity as a "hate group" and states: "The Christian Identity religion asserts that whites, not Jews, are the true Israelites favored by God in the Bible. In most of its forms, Identity theology depicts Jews as biologically descended from Satan, while non-whites are seen as soulless 'mud people' created with the other Biblical 'beasts of the field.'"

FACT: Christian Identity movement reportedly responsible for plots for bombing, killing plots

According to the ADL, "In the 1990s, Identity criminal activity continued apace, including efforts by an Oklahoma Identity minister, Willie Ray Lampley, to commit a series of bombings in the summer of 1995 in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh." ADL also states:

In 1998, Eric Rudolph, who had been associated with Identity ministers such as Nord Davis and Dan Gayman, became a fugitive after allegedly bombing gay bars, the Atlanta Summer Olympics, and an abortion clinic. The following year, Buford Furrow, a former Aryan Nations security guard, went on a shooting spree at a Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles, wounding four children and an adult, and later killing a Filipino-American postal worker.