We’ve been trying our best to defend Patrisse Cullors, the founder of the Black Lives Matter Group. But that is getting harder to do, as it looks like she may have pulled off the scam of the century.
Newly released tax filings reveal that Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors paid her baby’s father, friends and family huge ‘consulting’ fees with charity funds. She also reportedly chartered several private jets with donation money.
The documents obtained by Media Take Out, reveal that BLM paid a company owned by Patrisse’s baby’s father, Damon Turner, approximately $970,000 to help ‘produce live events’ and provide other ‘creative services’ for the organization.
And there’s more. Patrisse’s brother, Paul Cullors, received more than $840,000 for providing ‘security services’ to the foundation.
Patrisse justified using her brother’s high price security firm, over a more inexpensive one, by saying the foundation’s protection could not be entrusted to former police professionals who typically run security firms because the BLM movement is known for vehemently protesting law enforcement organizations.
And that’s just the beginning of it. A consulting firm run by Patrisse’s childhood best friend Shalomyah Bowers, who is also the group’s board secretary and was previously its deputy executive director, was paid more than $2.1 million for providing ‘operational support.’
Cullors resigned from BLM last year amid a wave of scrutiny surrounding the charity’s finances and has repeatedly denied claims that she took money from BLM for personal gain.
She has reiterated that all the purchases and transactions – including the lavish $6million home the group purchased in Los Angeles, dubbed Studio City – were legitimate.
The new filing also revealed that Cullors reimbursed BLM $73,523 for a charter flight for foundation-related travel, which the organization says she took in 2021 out of concern for COVID-19 and security threats.
The charity raised close to $90 million in donations, Media Take Out confirmed. And so far, Patrisse and the leadership has blown through half the money.
In its latest 990, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc. revealed that it ended the last fiscal year – from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 – with nearly $42million in net assets. The foundation had an operating budget of about $4million, according to a board member.
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