FWIW, I e-mailed the author of the article to complain about the lack of any "Why?" in her article. She responded very quickly with a snippy comment about "ethical journalists" (now THERE's an oxymoron if I ever saw one!) not indulging in rumor mongering.
I replied that the basis of good journalism is to report who, what, where, when and why, and that since she had not attempted to address the "why" component her report was deficient. I pointed out that she could have (and should have) asked the question and, if the SPLC declined to answer, she could have reported that.
No reply to that from the erstwhile journalist.