Two Anniston police officers were placed on administrative leave Wednesday pending an investigation by the city into their participation in what a Montgomery-based civil rights group describes as a hate group, reports The Anniston Star.
The City of Anniston says that it is placing police Lt. Josh Doggrell and Lt. Wayne Brown on administrative leave after the revelations were posted in an article on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website Wednesday.
The Southern Poverty Law Center article points to Doggrell’s membership in the League of the South, which the SPLC says promotes a racist brand of “Southern nationalism.” It also notes that Brown attended a 2013 League of the South conference with Doggrell in Wetumpka.
The article includes a video of Doggrell speaking at one of the group’s conferences.
City of Anniston spokeswoman Aziza Jackson says officials are working to “ensure the appropriate action is taken.”
The League of the South has advocated for secession of Southern states from the U.S., and has become increasingly militant and anti-Semitic in recent months, according to SPLC staff. The SPLC says the organization is a neo-confederate group.
League of the South’s website says opposition to federal law, racial and gender equality, and a “vision for an independent Southern republic” are among its core beliefs.
Additional reporting from the Associated Press.