BLM defends multimillion-dollar mansion purchase in lengthy Twitter thread
The activist group has come under fire for its financial spending
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Black Lives Matter defended their multimillion-dollar mansion purchase with donor funds, in a lengthy Twitter thread on Monday.
The left-wing group came under fire last week after their lavish home purchase was exposed by New York Magazine. According to the report, "the California property was purchased for nearly $6 million in cash in October 2020 with money that had been donated to BLMGNF (Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation)."
The report from New York Magazine caused the activist organization to respond on Twitter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There have been a lot of questions surrounding recent reports about the purchase of Creator’s House in California," Black Lives Matter official Twitter account posted.
"Despite past efforts, BLMGNF recognizes that there is more work to do to increase transparency and ensure transitions in leadership are clear," it added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In subsequent tweets, BLM called a flurry of reports looking into the group's finances "inflammatory and speculative" and blamed them for "causing harm." The reports "do not reflect the totality of the movement," the organization claimed.
"We are redoubling our efforts to provide clarity about BLMGNF's work," it added, citing an "internal audit, tightening compliance operations and creating a new board to help steer to the organization to its next evolution."
The organization continued to defend where some of their funds have been spent, citing $3 million to COVID relief, $25 million to Black-led organizations, as well as working to pass federal legislation against qualified immunity for police officers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The series of tweets concluded with the group declaring they were "embracing this moment as an opportunity for accountability, healing, truth-telling, and transparency" and "working intentionally to rebuild trust."
Notably, their account turned off replies to the tweets.
This isn’t the first time BLM has drawn scrutiny over its finances. In April 2021, the co-founder of the political movement, Patrisse Cullors drew attention for purchasing four homes for $3.2 million, according to a report by The New York Post. Critics noted Cullors previously described herself as a "trained Marxist."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors under fire for using donations to purchase $6 million mansion. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Viacom)
A month later, Cullors said she would step down from her role as executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.
Days after this latest story, Cullors wrote an Instagram post denouncing the story as a racist and sexist attack on the organization.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The group told The Associated Press earlier this year that it raised $90 million in donations in 2020, the year the organization came to global prominence for leading protests against the death of George Floyd.