23 APR 26 SITREP

• The Department of Justice indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on charges including wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering, and the indictment coincides with renewed scrutiny of the 2016 report “The Trump Effect: The Impact of the 2016 Presidential Election on Our Nation’s Schools,” produced with the American Federation of Teachers using responses from more than 10,000 K-12 educators.
• The report emphasized that 40 percent of responding educators reported hearing derogatory language directed at students of color, Muslims, immigrants, and individuals based on gender or sexual orientation in schools following the 2016 election.
• The same survey included a question asking whether educators had heard derogatory language or slurs about white students, where about 20 percent of respondents, approximately 2,000 educators, answered affirmatively.
• That result regarding derogatory language about white students was not included in the published report, and the indictment also alleges the Southern Poverty Law Center paid individuals affiliated with extremist groups, including $275,000 over 8 years to a person connected to the 2017 Unite the Right rally and about $3 million between 2014 and 2023 to at least 8 individuals tied to groups such as the KKK and neo-Nazi organizations.

• President Trump issued a direct order to the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boats placing mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, specifically identifying small boats engaged in laying naval mines as targets for immediate engagement.
• The order stated there would be no hesitation in carrying out lethal force against vessels conducting mining operations, emphasizing immediate action by U.S. naval forces operating in the Strait.
• United States Navy mine sweepers were actively clearing the Strait of Hormuz of naval mines, and Trump ordered those clearing operations to continue at a tripled level to accelerate removal of mines from the waterway.
• Iranian ships were reported to have placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and the continued mining activity, combined with the closure of the waterway for multiple weeks, disrupted commercial shipping routes, reduced the flow of oil exports, and contributed to rapidly rising gas prices across the United States.

• Fast moving wildfires were reported this morning as actively raging across the southeastern United States in southern Georgia and northern Florida, with fire conditions spreading rapidly across multiple affected areas.
• Evacuations were ordered as residents were forced to leave homes due to advancing fire lines and worsening conditions tied to the speed and intensity of the wildfire spread.
• More than 50 homes were already destroyed as the fires moved through residential areas, indicating significant structural loss and direct impact on civilian housing.
• The situation involved ongoing emergency response activity, with fire crews attempting to contain rapidly expanding flames while evacuations continued under active wildfire conditions.