Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Justice Department Probing whether politicians are involved black lives matter The movement defrauded donors who contributed millions of dollars during racial justice protests in 2020, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
In recent weeks, federal law enforcement officials have arrested the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. And subpoenas and at least one search warrant have been issued as part of the investigation into other Black-led organizations that have helped spur a national reckoning on systemic racism, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss the ongoing criminal investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
It was unclear whether the investigation would result in criminal charges, but its very existence invites renewed scrutiny of a movement that has faced criticism in recent years regarding its public accounting of donations received. The recent investigative activities also come at a time when civil rights groups have raised concerns about the Trump administration’s ability to target a variety of progressive and left-leaning groups that have been critical of him, including those associated with BLM, the transgender rights movement and anti-ICE protesters.
Justice Department spokesmen declined to comment Thursday.
One of the people said the investigation was started during the Biden administration but is getting renewed attention during the Trump administration. A second person confirmed that the allegations were investigated in the Biden administration.
The foundation said it took in more than $90 million in donations after the 2020 murder george floydA black man whose last breaths were taken under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer sparked protests across the US and around the world.
Critics of the non-profit foundation and the BLM movement largely accused organizers of not being transparent about how donations were spent. This criticism intensified in 2022 after BLM Foundation leaders confirmed that they used donations to purchase a $6 million Los Angeles-area property, including a house with six bedrooms and one bathroom.
The leaders have previously denied wrongdoing and publicly released tax documents. No prior investigation of the nonprofit’s finances has found evidence of impropriety.
Foundation leaders have received summons. In a statement emailed to the AP on Thursday, the foundation said it was “not the target of any federal criminal investigation.”
“We are committed to full transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship of the resources dedicated to building a better future for communities of color,” the foundation said in the statement.
The Black Lives Matter movement first emerged in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. But it was the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 that made the slogan “Black Lives Matter” a rallying cry for progressives and a favorite target of ridicule for conservatives.
The movement’s founders and organizers pledged to create a decentralized organization run by the consensus of BLM chapters. But as the movement’s influence grew, so did the number of organizations affiliated with BLM. In 2020, a tidal wave of public contributions following protests over Floyd’s killing went primarily to the BLM Foundation, although other organizations were given resources from those funds.
Foundation leaders talked openly about finances and organizational structure in 2022 and presented a detailed accounting of expenditures. The latest Form 990 filing shows the BLM Foundation had $28 million in assets for the fiscal year ending June 2024.
The investigation is being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. The top prosecutor there, Bill Essaly, was disqualified from several cases earlier this week after a federal judge concluded that the Trump appointee had stayed in the temporary job longer than allowed by law. It is unclear whether Essaly’s disqualification will impact the BLM investigation. He effectively remains the office’s top prosecutor, with a separate title of First Assistant United States Attorney.
Essaly previously served as a Republican assemblyman in California, where he raised conservative issues and criticized the state’s COVID-19 restrictions. He has been outspoken against state policies to protect immigrants living in the country illegally, and has aggressively prosecuted those who oppose Trump’s increased immigration enforcement. Southern California,
As a private practice attorney, he portrayed BLM as a “radical organization” while defending a white couple charged with hate crimes in 2020 after they were videotaped defacing BLM graffiti in Martinez, California.
At the time, city-sanctioned BLM murals were painted on streets in cities across America in an expression of solidarity with the racial justice movement. Essaly told the San Francisco CBS TV affiliate that his client was simply expressing his political viewpoint and that he disagreed with taxpayer money being used to “sponsor a radical organization, Black Lives Matters.”
The couple struck a plea deal to resolve the case in 2022.
At the height of the Floyd-sparked outrage over racial injustice, some state officials vowed to open their own investigations into the foundation’s finances, citing their responsibility to protect residents who may have donated to BLM. But most of those investigations were resolved without official action.
In 2022, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a lawsuit against the BLM Foundation for failing to follow up on an investigation of the organization’s finances. Shortly thereafter, a representative of the foundation responded with the necessary information and documentation and the lawsuit was dismissed, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said.
,
Alana Durkin Richer Inn WashingtonGraham Lee Brewer in DC, and Oklahoma City contributed.