Purchase of $6M Home Brings Scrutiny to Black Lives Matter Leaders, Finances
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Black Lives Matter used donations to buy a $6 million home. Does the move represent a milestone of progress for the movement, or a misuse of funds?
The home is more than 7,400 square feet and has parking for more than 20 cars. It was purchased by Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in late 2020 through a private LLC. A story from New York Magazine (Left bias) said the organization's leaders "hoped to keep the house’s existence a secret." A BLM organization board member said the organization bought the property to be a "housing and studio space for recipients of the Black Joy Creators Fellowship," and that the group planned to disclose the house in legal filings this May.
News sources on all sides of the spectrum highlighted transparency concerns regarding the purchase. The home purchase and scrutiny of the organization's finances has been a major story from right-rated sources over the past two years and especially in recent months. Left- and center-rated sources have covered the subject much less. One story from NBC News highlighted some who said the purchase was a sign of success for the movement, and others who said it was an inappropriate use of funds. Stories from right-rated news sources often frame the purchase as unethical and possibly illegal, and suggest that Black Lives Matter's entire financial structure is unstable and compromised by corruption. Some on the right highlighted how Facebook censored some stories on the $6 million purchase for being "abusive."
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
‘Great sign’ or ‘very unfortunate’? Black Lives Matter supporters split over $6M purchaseWhen Kulia Petzoldt first learned of George Floyd’s death in 2020, she and her teenage daughter ventured to Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, to protest alongside a mass of people demanding justice.
Petzoldt, who is white, said growing up around different cultures and having friends who were Black made her feel more conscious of the racial discrimination Black people faced. The Black Lives Matter movement solidified that awareness.
“We can’t just do nothing,” Petzoldt, 42, said, “and particularly those of us who are sort of protected by society.”
Beyond protesting,...
From the Right
BLM's $6 million mansion a clear violation of IRS law, watchdog chargesBlack Lives Matter and its co-founder Patrisse Cullors could face civil or criminal penalties for illegally using the organization's $6 million Los Angeles mansion for Cullors's private benefit, a watchdog group charged in a complaint filed with the IRS on Thursday.
The watchdog group, National Legal and Policy Center, said in the complaint it was "highly unusual" that BLM Global Network Foundation purchased the mansion in cash through a middleman in October 2020, transferred the deed to an obscure LLC one week later, then concealed the mansion's existence from its donors for 19 months while Cullors stayed...
From the Right
Inside the $6M mansion BLM reportedly bought with donated fundsThe sprawling $6 million mansion bought by Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles once hosted Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe as house guests — and comes complete with a sound stage, music studio, pool and a two-bedroom guest house.
The 7,400-square-foot Studio City compound is a 1930s “farm house” that also boasts seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms, according to the real estate listing.
“Impressively renovated back to the 1930s with all the modern conveniences!” the listing said. “Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart were a few A-listers who stayed as guests...
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