Wickedness': New Black Panther Head Attacks Southern Poverty Law Center

The chairman of the New Black Panther Party, Malik Zulu Shabazz, appeared on the syndicated radio show "The Muslim Street" Sunday night to discuss his party's initiatives regarding Trayvon Martin. Not only did he announce a "national day of action" -- where the the group will conduct "county-wide and state-wide defense training," followed by a national strike -- but he also attacked the famed Southern Poverty Law Center when asked about being a hate group.

(Related: Malik Zulu Shabazz: New Black Panthers Planning April 9 'Day of Action')

Shabazz's organization made national news recently for the $10,000 "reward" it offered for the capture George Zimmerman, who shot and killed 17-year old Trayvon Martin, and the "Wanted: Dead or Alive" posters they issued around the same time.

Radio host Laila Abdelaziz, then, took time to press Shabazz on whether the New Black Panther Party is a hate group, saying, "According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is fairly respected on a national level...[The New Black Panther Party] is described as a racist and anti-Semitic organization with leaders that encourage violence against the white Caucasian community, that encourage violence against Jews, that encourage violence against law enforcement officers.  What do you have to say about this?"

Shabazz responded: "I would say that the Southern Poverty Law Center is a pack of lies and it is an operation of deception to the highest of wickedness. It is an operation that is designed to suppress our liberation movement. And it is an operation controlled by liberals who seek to define an confine our struggle to white liberal accepted norms of civil rights struggle and they are vehemently against nationalists and they are vehemently against Muslims, but they claim that they are against hate and racist groups."

Abdelaziz did not leave it there, interrupting: "I work with the [Southern Poverty Law Center] in the Muslim-American community...they've come to the front lines to defend us."

"That's fine," Shabazz replied, "you could say this, that America itself has done some good things for Muslims, and given some money to Muslims, and [has] helped Muslim causes around the world.  But is America the friend of Islam, or is America on the other hand through her Pentagon, her CIA, her FBI, terrorizing and oppressing Muslims and oppressing Muslim self-determination?  And so they're tricky, they will do some good things...and some, not me, will give them credit for that."

He continued: "there were certain Jews who helped in the Civil Rights movement...and [were] on the front lines even sometimes, but on the other hand they were fighting tooth and nail against the liberation movement...So you be careful...the anti-defamation league [claims] to be against defamation, but they are a Zionist outfit out to destroy legitimate black leaders that are strong and don't bow down to Zionist control."

"I'm like the Palestinian Liberation Organization, [the] Palestinian Liberation Organization [is] Muslim but they're fighting for the liberation of Palestine.  I'm a Muslim I'm fighting for the liberation of the black nation," Shabazz concluded.

Listen to the relevant portion of the interview, below: