Black Lives Matter (BLM) had an $8.5 million deficit, and its investment accounts lost nearly $10 million in value, according to 2022 tax records.
The non-profit has blown through 2 ⁄ 3 of $90 million raised since the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd, the Washington Free Beacon reported. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s (BLMGNF) most recent filing of Form 990 paints a grim picture of BLMGNF’s financial health, indicating a trajectory toward financial insolvency. In 2022, the charity logged a $961,000 loss on a security sale of $172,000.
In this June 2020 photo, a rioter raises their fist as a fire burns in the street after clashes with law enforcement near the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct shortly after midnight. (David Ryder/Getty Images)
Co-founder Patrisse Cullors resigned from the organization in May 2021 due to allegations that she was spending foundation funds for her own personal use. Breitbart reported last year that Cullors hosted personal parties at a $6 million property in Los Angeles owned by the organization. She admitted the organization was ill prepared to handle the large wave of funds but denied any wrongdoing. Even after her resignation, a 2022 tax return revealed her friends and family were still reaping heavy financial benefits from the organization.
Patrisse Cullors attends the Frieze Project Artist Patrisse Cullors x Summit x Cultured Magazine Dinner at The West Hollywood EDITION on February 13, 2020, in West Hollywood, California. (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for The West Hollywood EDITION)
Cullors’ brother, Paul Cullors, collected a salary of $126,000 as head of security despite not having a background as a bodyguard. He was one of only two paid employees in the organization. Cullors and his two companies made $1.6 million dollars providing “professional security services” to Black Lives Matter.
Last September, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s board member Shalomyah Bowers was accused of siphoning $10 million from donors to pay his consulting firms. Last year, Black Lives Matter paid $1.7 million to his company Bowers Consulting. Black Lives Matter’s former sister organization Black Lives Matter Grassroots filed a lawsuit accusing Bowers for using the charity’s fund as his own “personal piggy bank.”
The lawsuit stated:
His actions have led [Black Lives Matter] into multiple investigations by the Internal Revenue Service and various state attorney generals. Instead of using the donations for its intended purposes, Mr. Bowers diverted these donations to his own coffers and intentionally took calculated steps to prevent those same resources from being used by BLM for on-the-ground movement work.
In February 2022, Black Lives Matter was forced to shut off its online funding streams due to transparency issues. In 2022, Black Lives Matter raised just $9.3 million — down by 88% from the previous year. The charity spent $10.5 million on contractors and $12 million on real estate properties in Canada and Los Angeles.
Last summer, Black Lives Matter brought on a new board of directors led by Cecily Gay. Since 2006, she has reportedly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy three times, according to the New York Post.
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