Dupage Policy Journal

Jeff Tischauser, a Chicago-based senior research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), has taken aim at parent activists like Terry Newsome for supporting conservative causes. 

According to Newsome, Antifa-aligned DuPage County Democrats Jill Bartelemy and Mary Lemanski have worked with the SPLC on attack pieces written against him by Tischauser—who also posts pro-Antifa messages on his X profile.   

“Southern Poverty Law Center and Antifa…they're working together,” Newsome told DuPage Policy Journal.

The SPLC, which was founded in 1971 to protect the civil rights of all Americans, has in recent years placed an emphasis on “political fear mongering” by smearing those with oppositional views, according to The Alliance Defending Freedom. 

Newsome first became a target of Tischauser and other leftists after he protested the inclusion of animated pornography in Community High School District 99. During the Biden Administration, he was placed on the FBI terror watch list and has faced ongoing harassment after being labeled homophobic and racist due to protesting the pornography at his children's school. 

In 2022, U.S. House Judiciary Republicans, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of labeling parents domestic terrorists for protesting school boards, citing investigations initiated by an FBI directive.

Now, the SPLC, which has been closely associated with the movement against parent activists like Newsome, is being unveiled as a recipient of grants from the Biden Administration.

These grants, including funding for SPLC staff and other left-wing organizations, have sparked criticism due to their alignment with progressive policies that many taxpayers do not support.

“I was a Democrat,” Newsome said. “I was in two unions. My father worked for the city of Chicago. My uncle's a president of the union. I was a full Italian-American Chicago Democratic Union family. My 85-year-old mother, she’s the Italian side. My mom's all Italian. She f***ing hated it when I started moving towards the Republican side. Now, she's a hardcore Trump supporter. My father, same thing.” 

Capital Research published an in-depth article noting that federal grants provided to nonprofits like the SPLC and other organizations promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) raise concerns about taxpayer money being used to support controversial ideologies.

Critics argue that such funding reflects values far removed from the majority of taxpayers, and efforts to rein in or claw back these grants could be an opportunity for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to align spending with public opinion.

Newsome previously spoke out after the SPLC stepped in to defend their own staff attorney, Thomas Jurgens, against a terrorism charge after his arrest during a protest, while the SPLC labels Newsome a "terrorist" for his parent activism at his children’s school.

Newsome’s credentials as a "terrorist" stem from his role with Parents Involved in Education and being in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, though not involved in the Capitol riot. He said FBI agents showed up on his doorstep to warn him of an Antifa threat but proceeded to ask him about the Jan. 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol anyway.

He believes the SPLC and Antifa work together to target and silence parents through harassment on social media. 

“They're very organized. I mean, all of them, they're so organized,” Newsome said. 

Tischauser has written extensively about Newsome, who dismisses the writings as “hit pieces.”

Tischauser earned his Ph.D. in Mass Communication/Media Studies from UW-Madison in 2020. According to his LinkedIn account, he has lectured at both the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the Wisconsin School of Business. He also held a research fellowship at the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Tischauser’s leftism drives his academic efforts as well.

Research during his Ph.D. program explored key political themes surrounding media representation and the role of “allyship” in radical political movements.

“My research focuses on how to use media and communication to disrupt privilege, build trust, and strengthen movements for social justice,” Tischauser’s bio on his research profile reads. 

In his 2019 paper, “That Applies to My People Too,” he examines how the white press of the original Rainbow Coalition, founded by the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, portrayed coalition-building and allyship, focusing on the political representation of "whiteness" in radical media.

Another of his works, “Far-Right Media as Imitated Counterpublicity,” analyzes the racial meaning and identity constructed by “far-right media,” focusing on the politicization of racial issues in right-wing discourse.

Additionally, his paper on teaching journalism in the "post-truth" era addresses the political challenges of maintaining journalistic integrity and standards in a time of widespread “misinformation.”

Tischauser’s research has also examined how the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) utilized media production practices to support social change and support an “anti-racist project of intersectional racial allyship.” He also explores how these practices are incorporated into digital media routines, such as meme design and social media engagement, to promote a shared understanding and advance racial justice.

Similar to his targeting of local parents, Tischauser, publishing in the Chicago Tribune, also accused the Chicago Police Department of harboring “extremists.”

The constant focus on racialism and leftist political movements is a staple for Tischauser and the SPLC.

Except under the Biden Administration, that meddling was said to have teeth.

In 2021, the president of the SPLC revealed in a private donor meeting that several Biden administration agencies sought the SPLC’s input on shaping policies to address domestic terrorism.

Under President Biden’s administration, federal agencies targeted a range of groups, including parents' rights activists, Catholic churches, U.S. military personnel and pro-life organizations, as potential domestic extremists or terrorists.

Journalist and academic trustee Chris Rufo has examined the campaigns undertaken to silence critics of gender ideology and critical race theory, and how organizations including the SPLC and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) target individuals like Newsome and use both private and public tactics to discredit them.

According to Rufo, by leveraging their reputations as moral authorities, the SPLC and ADL have been able to expand their influence and call on state repression to target critics.

These groups activate left-wing journalists like Tischauser, demand censorship on social media platforms, and encourage government investigations to intimidate and suppress opposition.

This tactic has been adopted by other left-wing groups, including the National School Boards Association, which also pushed the Biden administration to mobilize the FBI against parents opposing critical race theory.

In the fall of 2024, U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) began investigating the ties between the SPLC and federal employees, such as those working for the Biden Administration’s FBI.

Congress is reportedly gearing up for a thorough investigation of the SPLC and its influence on FBI investigations.

"There's supposed to be an investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center and their nonprofit status because they're essentially an extension of the Democratic Party,” Newsome said. “What I learned in D.C., when I was with the Center for Self-Governance, is that the SPLC is getting paid with tax dollars. They have a consulting arm that goes out and teaches law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels about who the extremists are. And according to them, the extremists are us, not Antifa. One of the people involved is now looking into their nonprofit status."