Is The Group Behind The Muhammad Cartoon Contest A Hate Group?

03:50

May 04, 2015

FBI crime scene investigators document the area around two deceased gunmen and their vehicle outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, Monday, May 4, 2015. Police shot and killed the men after they opened fire on a security officer outside the suburban Dallas venue, which was hosting provocative contest for Prophet Muhammad cartoons Sunday night, authorities said. (Brandon Wade/AP)

The American Freedom Defense Initiative is in the news now because of the shootings at the Prophet Muhammad art exhibit it sponsored in Texas. But the group's founder, Pamela Geller, has been in the spotlight before.

Five years ago, Geller led the effort to protest a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center. And more recently, her group has been posting provocative anti-Muslim ads in big cities.

Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center about the group's goals and activities.

Guest

Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center and senior editor of the SPLC's Intelligence Report.

This segment aired on May 4, 2015.