BLM facing scrutiny after tax documents allege donations were given to family members
The 'Outnumbered' panel discussed the scandal and the repercussions on the broader 'Black Lives Matter' movement itself.
FIRST ON FOX: The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation donated $200,000 during its 2021 fiscal year to a Chicago-based nonprofit whose executive director repeatedly has called cops "pigs."
Equity and Transformation (EAT), established in 2018, is a Chicago-based social justice nonprofit founded "by and for post-incarcerated people," according to its website. Recently released tax forms for the BLM Global Network Foundation reveal that they gave a "cash grant" of $200,000 to EAT during the 2021 fiscal year.
The group, which was founded by defund the police activist and community organizer Richard Wallace, who remains the group's executive director, has organized protests against police and advocates for reparations. However, it primarily focuses on achieving "social and economic equity for Black Workers engaged in the informal economy," or African Americans who work jobs "not regulated or protected by the state," which appears to include criminal activity.
Wallace, who repeatedly has called police "pigs" and said they need to "defund these b---ards," posted smiling emojis on his Facebook in response to a 2020 article saying, "54 percent of Americans think burning down Minneapolis police precinct was justified after George Floyd's death." In 2015, Wallace took to Twitter to say, "F--- the police."
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors under fire for using donations to purchase $6 million dollar mansion (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Viacom)
Experts told Fox News Digital last month that a large increase of Black Americans being murdered was a result of the defund the police movement, which resulted in Black Americans being disproportionately affected by the skyrocketing murders of 2020. According to FBI data, the number of deaths among Black Americans spiked by more than 32% in 2020 compared to 2019.
BLACK LIVES MATTER PAID NEARLY $4M TO BOARD SECRETARY, CO-FOUNDER'S BROTHER, AND FATHER OF HER CHILD
Equity and Transformation's social media pages highlight many examples of their activism and involvement in anti-police protests, but one organization that repeatedly appeared on their Facebook and Twitter accounts was Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of more than 50 liberal groups, including Black Lives Matter. The pro-defunding the police coalition, which is backed by top progressives in the "Squad," sent a text message to supporters last summer saying, "Black August is when we commemorate the lives of our fallen freedom fighters and political prisoners, prisoners of war, and exiles."
The text message called on supporters to sign clemency petitions for Mutulu Shakur and Sundiata Acoli. Shakur is a former Black Liberation Army leader who was the mastermind behind several armed robberies in Connecticut and New York. In 1981, the Brinks robbery resulted in the slayings of an armed guard and two police officers. Acoli was convicted of murdering New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a 1973 traffic stop.
A woman holds a Black Lives Matter flag during an event in remembrance of George Floyd and to call for justice for those who lost loved ones to the police violence outside the Minnesota State Capitol on May 24, 2021 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Kerem Yucel / AFP)
Movement for Black Lives also expressed support for Assata Shakur, who is on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list. JoAnne Chesimard, Shakur's married name, was one of the two passengers in Acoli's car and was also convicted of the 1973 murder of Foerster. However, she escaped prison and was granted asylum in Cuba by the late Fidel Castro.
Equity and Transformation's Wallace reacted to Assata Shakur being added to the FBI's terrorist list in a 2013 tweet saying, "Assata Becomes First woman on FBI most wanted and Malcolm Shabazz is found dead. They want to silent our Heroes!"
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors repeatedly has praised Shakur on her Facebook page. In a now-deleted 2016 post, Cullors wrote, "Assata Shakur we love you. Fight for you and because of you. On this day and everyday [sic]."
"Over the past year we have seen the movement and people at large elevating Assata worldwide chanting the excerpt from her letter and proudly wearing Assata Taught Me sweatshirts," Cullors said in another now-deleted post. "Today...we ask that people take a moment to uplift our sister Assata Shakur by posting on social media how Assata has inspired them and why she is important to the current Black Lives Matter movement."
MASSIVE INCREASE IN BLACK AMERICANS MURDERED WAS RESULT OF DEFUND POLICE MOVEMENT: EXPERTS
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors repeatedly praised FBI most wanted terrorist Assata Shakur in posts on social media. WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 14: Patrisse Cullors participates in a panel discussion after the Los Angeles premiere of "Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am" on June 14, 2019 in West Hollywood, California. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images / FBI)
The BLM Global Network Foundation doled out $25 million in grants during its 2021 fiscal year, the group's tax forms show.
Around $5 million of the awarded grants went to its chapters in several cities. They also sent $1.6 million to organizations that focus on transgender issues, including Transgender Advocates and the Transgender Law Center.
The tax documents are the first look inside BLM Global Network Foundation's finances. The nonprofit was previously fiscally sponsored and did not have to report to the IRS but broke away into its own legal entity in 2020.
The foundation shoveled nearly $4 million into firms run by individuals close to its co-founder Patrisse Cullors, who stepped away from the group last year, its tax forms revealed.
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The cash included $2.1 million to Bowers Consulting, a firm run by its board secretary Shalomyah Bowers, $970,000 to Trap Heals LLC, a company registered to Damon Turner, the father of Cullors' child, and $840,000 to Cullors Protection LLC, a firm owned by Cullors' brother, Paul.
The BLM Global Network Foundation received $77 million in contributions during its 2021 fiscal year, and it ended it with $42 million in assets.
Wallace and Black Lives Matter did not respond to Fox News Digital requests for comment.
Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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