Becky Bratu, NBC News, June 17, 2015

The City of Anniston, Alabama, placed two police officers on administrative leave Wednesday, following a watchdog group’s article alleging the pair are members of an organization described as a hate group.

The article, published on the Southern Poverty Law Center blog Hatewatch, states Lt. Josh Doggrell and Lt. Wayne Brown belong to the League of the South, a group the organization describes as “neo-Confederate.” {snip}

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The Southern Poverty Law Center article is mostly centered on Doggrell’s membership and includes a video of a speech he gave at a League of the South conference in 2013. According to the article, Brown joined him at the conference.

A blurb on the website describing Doggrell’s role in the organization reads, “Josh is the chairman of the John C. Calhoun Chapter of the League of the South and has been since its inception in March 2009. Josh has been a member of the League of South (the League was formed in late 1994) since the fall of 1995.”

In his speech, Doggrell described a conversation he had at one point with his chief at the Anniston Police Department, in which he brought up his League ties.

“I’m not going to sell out my position with the League, as something I believe in strongly. If it came down to it, I’d choose the League,” Doggrell told the audience he said to the chief.

“We pretty much think like you do,” Doggrell said the chief responded.