Joseph Sabino Mistick: Eradicating hate is a worthy cause

The Washington Examiner reported last week that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced she was terminating funding for a federal program that supports the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, which was started in Pittsburgh after the massacre of 11 Tree of Life synagogue worshippers in 2018, still the deadliest antisemitic act on American soil.

Noem drew national attention in 2024 when she wrote, in her book “No Going Back,” about shooting her family’s rambunctious 14-month-old wirehaired pointer who went “out of her mind with excitement” on a pheasant hunting trip.

The former South Dakota governor added that Cricket was “less than worthless as a hunting dog.” She even made the obvious connection between hate and violence when she wrote, “I hated that dog.”

Animal welfare organizations were outraged. The president of one group said at the time that tens of millions of dog lovers “have to wonder about a person who expresses hatred for a young female dog and kills her.”

But Donald Trump saw something in Noem that he liked and appointed her as secretary of homeland security. Noem acts tough and talks tough. In March, she recorded a video in front of an El Salvador prison cell that was packed with Venezuelan prisoners sent there by the Trump administration.

Wearing an ICE officer’s ballcap, Noem said, “If you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face.”

Her department is following her lead when it comes to toughness. In the DHS press release crediting Noem with terminating the Eradicate Hate funding, an assistant secretary said, “Politicized NGOs like Eradicate Hate have been siphoning away taxpayer dollars for far too long. We are ending the grift.”

That is a genuine head-scratcher for anyone who is familiar with the good work Eradicate Hate has done and continues to do. After Tree of Life, the group came together “to launch the most significant anti-hate rule of law initiative in the world.” It continues to connect “experts and leaders who are committed to the global eradication of all forms of hate speech and violent extremism.”

Since 2021, the centerpiece of Eradicate Hate has been an annual global summit held in Pittsburgh. Hundreds of participants attend to hear local, regional and international experts on hate-inspired violence. And it is not just talk.

The goal of the summit is to go “beyond dialogue in the collective pursuit of solutions” by establishing ongoing working groups “that can identify and implement actual change.”

“Our hope is that each year it will continue to bring effective change to the way we combat hate-fueled extremism,” according to the Eradicate Hate website.

One tangible example of the group’s work is “the production of toolkits and resources for psychologists, law enforcement, judicial systems, schools and threat assessment professionals, all designed to strengthen prevention and response efforts.”

Topics for the 2025 summit scheduled for September will include engaging faith communities, preventing violence in corporate settings, and protecting military service members and veterans.

Hardly the stuff of wild-eyed liberals.

Maybe it is all a mistake. Other snap decisions by the Trump administration have been reversed once the facts come out. And after they have gotten the desired headlines.

But combating hate and the violence it begets is nothing to fool with. The Pittsburgh massacre is just one horrible example in a long list of horrors. Regardless of our political party or beliefs or where we live, hate-fueled violence touches us all.