AN INDICTMENT OF CHARLES HAWKS, GILBERT JONES, AND CERTAIN OTHERS

A PETITION TO THE HONORABLE COMMANDER IN CHIEF, SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS, R. G. WILSON:

WE, the following members, camps and Divisions of The Sons of Confederate Veterans, in good standing within the Confederation and in support of the true goals, objects, and purposes of The Sons of Confederate Veterans, under its duly elected Commander in Chief, R. G. Wilson, of South Carolina, Do present the following Indictment and Charges, TO WIT:

CHARGE I: THAT CHARLES HAWKS, GILBERT JONES, WALTER HILDERMAN, AND HUGH HARKEY HAVE VIOLATED, FORMALLY AND KNOWINGLY, THE OFFICIAL SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS POLICY ON PRESS AND MEDIA CONTACT AND RELATIONS.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION:

Through the initiative of Gilbert Jones, reporter Mr. Tom Steadman of the GREENSBORO NEWS AND RECORD, wrote a critical article on the Sons of Confederate Veterans (November 19, 2002). The cited individuals freely gave interviews to Mr. Steadman, who quoted them in his published piece. This article was picked up by Associated Press (AP) and widely distributed nationally (cf. CNN, NEWSDAY, etc.). Mr. Steadman informed CIC R. G. Wilson by telephone that Gilbert Jones had solicited the interview and provided critical information to him. Reporter G. D. Gearino also interviewed these gentlemen, and their comments appeared in THE [RALEIGH] NEWS AND OBSERVER, November 20, 2002. Each of these men has now given public interviews criticizing the SCV and its leadership and venting prejudicially serious internal issues in the public forum. Thus, these gentlemen have formally and knowingly violated the Memphis Resolution on the media and the press (adopted overwhelmingly by the National Convention assembled at Memphis, TN., August 3, 2002). In the case of Mr. Hawks and Mr. Jones, by so doing they potentially prejudice their OWN pending judicial situations before judges and before the membership of the confederation. In going to the press these individuals invite not simply confirmation of CIC Wilson's decision and the disciplinary decision of the GEC, but additional and severe penalties. (Note 1)

CHARGE II: THE SAID JONES, HAWKS, HILDERMAN, AND HARKEY HAVE, IN THE PUBLIC PRESS, FORMALLY AND PUBLICLY ENDORSED AND SUPPORTED THE GOALS, METHODS, AND OBJECTIVES OF THE "SSCV" RUMP GROUP AND ITS POLICY OF SUBVERSION AND DESTRUCTION WITHIN THE SONS OF THE CONFDERATE VETERANS.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION:

In the public media and on the SSCV web site, Mssrs. Jones, Hawks, Hilderman, and Harkey have formally and openly endorsed and given their support to the SSCV rump group, its goals and methods, putting them on record publicly as advocating the objectives and methods that the SSCV rump group announces on its web site and in its printed publicity as its official mode of operation. In an email message to his friends, written November 17, 2002, and widely distributed former ANV commander Hawks stated: "I fully support their [the SSCV's] efforts and will be listed near (if not at) the top of their endorsers."
The SSCV rump group and its members advocate tactics and methods of infiltration, subversion, spying, clandestine profiling, and character assassination of SCV leaders and other members in good standing. Such behavior is unworthy of Southern gentlemen and parallels the Marxist-style tactics employed by Morris Dees and his Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC] and other groups, like the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, which utilize guilt by association, create "lists" of "hate groups" or "racists" who can then be conveniently denounced to a willingly receptive press, and employ secretive "cells" within an organization to "monitor" or "profile" and compile "dossiers" on potential enemies. Walter Hilderman, a founder of the SSCV rump group, has openly stated that the SPLC's "intelligence-gathering arm, The Intelligence Report, is a first-rate intelligence serviceŠ" [quoted from an Email message, December 2, 2002, to William E. Forlines of Nofolk, Virginia] Such tactics would generate an atmosphere of fear and suspicion within our organization and are inimical to the ideals of free and open expression among compatriots that are so treasured by members of The Sons of Confederate Veterans.(Note 2)

Gilbert Jones, already charged with violating SCV resolutions and rules, registered the SSCV site and set it up in collaboration with fellow North Carolina SCV member, David Yemm. Jones and Yemm have received support and encouragement from Chip Pate, who, although he has resigned from the SCV, still edits the Col John Randolph Lane [Siler City, NC] Camp newsletter and is that camp's web master. Mssrs. Jones and Pate were two of Charles Hawks' primary advisers during the recent ANV Commander campaign. As advisers for Mr. Hawks in his campaign they boldly used the extremist and anti-Confederate SPLC as the basis for their campaign, featuring SPLC links, references to the SPLC's newsletter THE INTELLIGENCE REPORT, and extreme Marxist groups on their Hawks web site. They have been in open and long-standing contact with the leftwing media [e.g. THE INDEPENDENT, THE RALEIGH NEWS AND OBSERVER, THE NEWS AND RECORD, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, etc.], feeding them information and "attack" material and "character assassination" and "guilt by association" dossiers against individuals that disagree with them.(Note 3)

A major tactic, one they picked up from friendly contacts in the SPLC, is to label their opponents as "racists," a term that "brands" their enemies publicly and in the press, and is somewhat like calling someone a "pedophile" or "anti-semite." Once labeled a "racist," an individual will have great difficulty avoiding the popular stigma associated with the term, and his effectiveness may be seriously circumscribed.

In short, the SSCV is a secretive, underground, subversive, undemocratic movement, its tactics modeled closely on those of extreme leftist groups like the SPLC and ADL. Vladimir Lenin first enunciated this strategy in his 1902 propaganda piece, WHAT IS TO BE DONE? The tactics of infiltration and subversion have ever since been utilized by Leftist and Marxist-style groups in their attempts to take over our nation's churches, labor unions, and civic organizations. Concerned SCV members should consult the rich body of literature on this topic, as well as on the SPLC.(Note 4)

The goals of the SSCV movement and its supporters would signify the virtual destruction FROM WITHIN of the SCV, turning the SCV into a pliant ally of the anti-Christian and anti-Confederate SPLC, a group which just recently went to court to attempt to expel the Ten Commandments from the Alabama State Supreme Court [Story aired by CBS News, Nov. 18, 2002].(Note 5)

To conclude: The tactics and goals of the SSCV rump group are opposed to and antithetical to the objects and purposes of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and destructive of its very existence as an organization of gentlemen founded on free expression and civil discourse. As such they seriously violate the SCV Constitution, Article XIV, Sect. 3 and Article VIII, Sect. 9 (a), regarding "acts repugnant to [the Sons of Confederate Veterans'] Constitution and detrimental to the objects and purposes of the Confederation." The public statements and endorsements by the cited individuals can only confirm the initial actions of the Commander in Chief of the Confederation regarding Mr. Jones and former ANV commander Hawks, and the absolute necessity to take additional and appropriate action to eradicate this serious threat to the existence of our Confederation.

CHARGE III: CERTAIN OTHER MEMBERS HAVE ALSO HAD THEIR NAMES AFFIXED TO AND OFFERED PUBLIC WEB SUPPORT OF THE SUBVERSIVE GOALS, INFILTRATION, AND SPYING TECHNIQUES ADVANCED BY THE SSCV RUMP GROUP.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION:
Certain other persons, who identify themselves as members of The Sons of the Confederate Veterans, are "coming out of the closet," so to speak, and announcing openly their formal support of the SSCV rump group and its tactics. Several have also had their names and oaths of support freely and publicly affixed on the web site of the rump SSCV group. Given that the said rump group advocates methods and tactics which are inimical to and destructive of the true objects and purposes of The Sons of Confederate Veterans, the listed individuals thus violate the Constitution of The Sons of Confederate Veterans, as explained above, and place themselves in opposition to The Sons of Confederate Veterans, its objects, goals, and historic purpose of defending and advancing the cause of Confederate heritage, and, to quote General Stephen D. Lee and the Preamble of the SCV Constitution, "the principles represented by the Confederate States of America." [See Preamble, SCV Constitution] As such they place themselves de facto outside the Confederation and demand the application of appropriate disciplinary action.

CHARGE IV: THE PUBLIC SUPPORT BY CAMPS FOR THE SUBVERSIVE SSCV GROUP WOULD QUALIFY THEM FOR CHARTER SUSPENSION.
SUPPORTING INFORMATION:
The Col. John Randolph Lane Camp [Siler City, NC], according to the SSCV press release (See Appendix C), was one of the originating camps of the SSCV and is fully supportive of the efforts of Mssrs. Jones, Hilderman, Pate, et al, to form a subversive organization WITHIN the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Former SCV member, SCV dissident, and SSCV organizer Chip Pate edits the Lane Camp newsletter and email service and is a primary "mover" in this movement (Note 6)

Additionally, the Stokes County [NC] Camp has apparently given its official support to the SSCV rump group. Such actions qualify these camps for charter suspension under the "acts repugnant" and "acts detrimental to the objects and purposes" paragraphs of the SCV Constitution, Article XIV, Sect. 3. Other camps that adhere to these subversive goals could also fall under this clause.

GIVEN THAT:

(1) the said individuals named in Charge I have violated repeatedly, formally, and openly the rules on press contact adopted by the national Sons of Confederate Veterans in convention; and
(2) the actions of the aforementioned individuals named in Charge II violate the SCV Constitution, as above explained, as well as the rules of comity, and the accepted requirements of a Southern gentlemen; and
(3) the actions of other individuals as referred to in Charge III who have had their names publicly and formally affixed to the SSCV endorsement page set them in opposition to the objects and purposes of the Constitution of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and in opposition to the common good, the accustomed free expression of members, and the dignity of this organization; and
(4) the named camps cited in Charge IV have equally violated the SCV Constitution, as well as the objects and purposes of the Confederation, the rules of comity, and the accepted requirements of a Southern gentleman; and
(5) the program of the cited individuals and camps would mean the destruction from within of the SCV as an active heritage organization;

THEREFORE, there is no alternative but the institution at the appropriate level of proceedings leading to the expulsion and/or suspension from The Sons of the Confederate Veterans of the above-cited individuals and camps. This action we do respectfully petition and formally request of the Commander in Chief and/or General Executive Committee by this document.

SIGNED:

NOTES:

NOTE #1: The issue here is not the right of former ANV commander Charles Hawks or the right of the others cited to communicate freely with friends WITHIN the organization, or even to send out "open letters" to supporters, or to adequately defend themselves against what they may perceive to be unfair criticism. Rather, Mssrs. Hawks, Jones, Hilderman, and Harkey have decided to go "public" to the adversarial media to air serious internal SCV issues.
NOTE #2: For a revealing discussion of goals, methods, and objectives of groups like the SPLC, see researcher Laird Wilcox's excellent analysis, THE WATCHDOGS, A CLOSE LOOK AT THE ANTI-RACIST GROUPS (Educational Research Service, Box 2047, Olathe, Kansas 66051).
NOTE 3: Chip Pate's contacts with reporter Jon Elliston of THE INDEPENDENT go back at least two years to the year 2000, when a press release from his camp was published by Elliston in THE INDEPENDENT. Jones has maintained contact with Mr. Steadman of the GREENSBORO NEWS AND RECORD. Pate and Jones have effectively used a willing press to label opponents "racists" and "secessionists."
NOTE #4:For an excellent review and critique of Marxist-style infiltration techniques, see Dr. Marcel Clement, THE COMMUNIST CHALLENGE TO GOD. Glasgow: Burns, 1961, pp. 107-137; this is an English translation of the volume authored by the internationally-known French expert on Marxist-Leninist revolutionary infiltration tactics.
NOTE #5: The Winter 2002, issue of the SPLC's THE INTELLIGENCE REPORT contains a major "expose" by Heidi Beirich and Mark Potok, viciously attacking the Sons of Confederate Veterans, CIC Wilson, and various SCV officers, and defending Mssrs. Jones, Pate, and Hawks, and the "Save the SCV" rump group. This lengthy attack article may be accessed on the SPLC's web page. It confirms the observations made herein and the serious and increased interference of the SPLC in internal SCV affairs. In many cases the phrases and terms used by the SSCV rump group in its press releases [see below, Appendix C] are almost exact copies of the phrases and terminology used in the SPLC article. The argumentation used by both groups is very much in the same vein. The apparently close relationship between luminaries heading the SSCV rump effort and the SPLC is now visible for all to see. The SSCV, Gilbert Jones, Charles Hawks, and others supporting this rump effort, are de facto in alliance with Morris Dees and the SPLC.

NOTE #6: The Winter 2002 INTELLIGENCE REPORT, published by Morris Dees' radical Southern Poverty Law Center, details the corporate involvement of the Siler City camp in the SSCV.