A coalition of 26 local BLM chapters, once closely aligned with the national group, stated on Tuesday, blaming its co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, for its demise. Cullors, who describes herself as a "trained Marxist," has been under fire since last year when it was revealed that BLM used its charitable funds to enrich her family and friends.
The coalition, known as Black Lives Matter Grassroots, stated that "the plummeting of donations to [Black Lives Matter] is further evidence that donors want to fund the work, not high-priced consultants." The statement also revealed that the coalition is now "engaged in a fight for the soul of Black Lives Matter."
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According to tax documents obtained by the Free Beacon, the national arm of the movement, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, spent two-thirds of the $90 million it raised following George Floyd's death in the summer of 2020 and suffered a massive drop in donations in its 2022 fiscal year. The documents also revealed that the group spent over $10.5 million on high-priced contractors, many of whom share close ties with Cullors.
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Two companies run by Cullors' brother, Paul Cullors, raked in $1.6 million in 2022, providing "professional security services" for Black Lives Matter. He also collected a $126,000 salary working as "head of security" for the charity, which included protecting the $6 million Los Angeles mansion the charity secretly purchased with donor cash in 2021.
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Shalomyah Bowers, Cullors' close associate, and chosen successor to lead the charity after she resigned in May 2021, brought in $1.7 million to his company, Bowers Consulting, providing management and consulting services to Black Lives Matter in its 2022 tax year.
Bowers' control of Black Lives Matter proved to be the breaking point between the national and local chapters the group once represented across the country. Black Lives Matter 2020 founded and operated BLM Grassroots, but the coalition broke away in 2022 as several liberal states cracked down on the charity for widespread compliance issues.
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BLM Grassroots filed a lawsuit against Black Lives Matter and Bowers in September, alleging that Bowers used the charity as his "personal piggy bank" to fraudulently siphon $10 million in "fees" to his company. The coalition stated in its lawsuit that Bowers "continued to betray the public trust by self-dealing and breaching his fiduciary duties," and that "his actions have led [Black Lives Matter] into multiple investigations by the Internal Revenue Service and various state attorney generals, blazing a path of irreparable harm to BLM in less than 18 months."
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Melina Abdullah, the director of BLM Grassroots, claimed on Tuesday that she had no idea Black Lives Matter was misusing charitable funds before the two groups broke apart. "We view Black Lives Matter as a movement. So I've been less vocal about what's been happening inside of Black Lives Matter that I frankly have nothing to do with," Abdullah said on the podcast Roland Martin Unfiltered. "At the time I didn't know anything about dollars coming in or about, you know, who's getting paid what."
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