The women who no longer run the Black Lives Matter organization reportedly bought a California home worth $6 million and kept that information quiet until a journalist asked them about it.
People on Twitter have joked that the real meaning of BLM is ‘Buying Large Mansions,’ and it’s easy to see why.
Last summer, it was revealed that one of these women, Patrisse Cullors, bought a house in California worth over a million, which she quickly surrounded with a wall.
More recently, the BLM organization has come under increased scrutiny for its shady finances, even being forced to halt fundraising at one point.
This new revelation is just more of the same.
Sean Campbell writes in NY Magazine:
Black Lives Matter Secretly Bought a $6 Million House Allies and critics alike have questioned where the organization’s money has gone.On a sunny day late last spring, three leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement — Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Melina Abdullah — sat around a table on the patio of an expensive house in Southern California. The women were recording a YouTube video to mark the first anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, and they discussed their racial-justice work and the difficulties they had faced over the year…None of the women acknowledged the house behind them. It’s far from a box, with more than 6,500 square feet, more than half a dozen bedrooms and bathrooms, several fireplaces, a soundstage, a pool and bungalow, and parking for more than 20 cars, according to real-estate listings. The California property was purchased for nearly $6 million in cash in October 2020 with money that had been donated to BLMGNF.The transaction has not been previously reported, and Black Lives Matter’s leadership had hoped to keep the house’s existence a secret…On March 30, I asked the organization questions about the house, which is known internally as “Campus.” Afterward, leaders circulated an internal strategy memo with possible responses, ranging from “Can we kill the story?” to “Our angle — needs to be to deflate ownership of the property.” The memo includes bullet points explaining that “Campus is part of cultural arm of the org — potentially as an ‘influencer house,’ where abolition+ based content is produced by artists & creatives.” Another bullet is headed “Accounting/990 modifications” and reads in part: “need to first make sure it’s legally okay to use as we plan to use it.”
In short, this does not look good.
Again, this was done with donated money.
From the New York Post:
… Cullors and her colleagues didn’t reveal any details on the upscale home seen behind them in the video – a 6,500-square-foot spread with more than six bedrooms and bathrooms, fireplaces, a pool and parking for more than 20 cars, according to a real estate listing cited by the magazine.The property was purchased in October 2020 with funds that had been previously donated to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, according to the explosive report.The seven-bedroom residence was purchased by a man named Dyane Pascall two weeks after BLMGNF received $66.5 million from its fiscal sponsor earlier that month. Pascall is the financial manager for Janaya and Patrisse Consulting — an LLC operated by Cullors and her spouse, Janaya Khan, New York Magazine reported.Ownership was then transferred within a week to an LLC in Delaware, ensuring the property’s owner wouldn’t be disclosed, according to the report.Cullors, BLM’s co-founder, resigned in May as the group’s executive director amid criticism over buying three homes in the Los Angeles area and another outside Atlanta.
The United States has stringent laws regarding non-profit, tax-exempt organizations. You may recall the scandal that rocked the IRS and Lois Lerner when Tea Party organizations were denied tax-exempt status before the 2012 election.
One has to wonder why the tax-exempt branch of the IRS has not taken a greater interest in Black Lives Matter.
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