It always smelled like a shakedown, a scandal in the making, the millions of dollars that Black Lives Matter 'leaders' were raking in at the height of the "George Floyd riots" during the summer and fall of 2020, and it turns out that's precisely what was going on.
After the constant BLM-staged violence and protests from the 'summer of unrest' died down, the leaders of the organization appear to have absconded with as much as $60 million in donations, according to the Washington Examiner, which reported:
No one appears to have been in charge at Black Lives Matter for months. The address it lists on tax forms is wrong, and the charity's two board members won't say who controls its $60 million bankroll, a Washington Examiner investigation has found.
BLM's shocking lack of transparency surrounding its finances and operations raises major legal and ethical red flags, multiple charity experts told the Washington Examiner.
"Like a giant ghost ship full of treasure drifting in the night with no captain, no discernible crew, and no clear direction," CharityWatch Executive Director Laurie Styron said of the organization in an interview with the outlet.
One of the organization's co-founders, Patrisse Cullors, a self-avowed Marxist (and hypocrite), is known to have purchased millions in properties and homes. She has also appointed a pair of activists to serve as the organization's senior directors after she left in May over allegations surrounding those purchases and other personal finances.
However, both of them quietly noted in September that they never took those positions because of disagreements they had with BLM generally. They told the Washington Examiner in an interview they have no idea who is leading the group now that it has become one of the most influential social 'justice' organizations in the country.
"This is grossly irregular and improper for a nonprofit with $60 million in its coffers," said Paul Kamenar, counsel for conservative watchdog group the National Legal and Policy Center, who is calling for a full investigation into BLM as well as an audit of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the legal entity representing the national BLM movement.
The organization came under intense heat from local black activists following reports in April that Cullors, the group's executive director at the time, spent $3.2 million on real estate purchases around the country. Those reports followed disclosures by BLM in February 2021 that it ended 2020 with $60 million in the bank.
"BLM denied allegations that Cullors spent BLM funds on her personal properties. However, BLM and other activist organizations under Cullors's control offered contracts to an art company led by the father of her only child, the Daily Caller reported," according to the Examiner.
When Cullors announced her resignation in May, she said activists Makani Themba and Monifa Bandele would become senior executives leading the organization. However, they both revealed last fall that they never really took those jobs due to disagreements with the organization's "acting Leadership Council."
Thanks to everyone for your support. pic.twitter.com/E268EUpVo4
— Makani Themba (@Makani_Themba) September 3, 2021
"We never actually started in the position, so we never received any detailed information," Themba told the Examiner.
Normally, a charity's finances are the responsibility of a board of directors, but BLM's bylaws state that the executive director "shall have charge of all funds and securities of the Corporation."
Two remaining known board members, Shalomyah Bowers and Raymond Howard, refused to respond to multiple requests for information from the Examiner.
Doug White, a longtime expert on charities, said the fact that the organization won't answer basic questions about its operations is a huge red flag.
"Sixty million dollars is not chump change," White told the outlet. "What BLM does is of tremendous social importance. That they won't give an honest or complete or straightforward answer in regards to its leadership is a concern.
"Not only do they not have an executive director right now, we think, but they also don't want to tell you how the organization is being run," he added.
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