May 30, 2020 – “Remember that as long as #COVID19 is a threat, no social activity outside your home where you will run into others is completely without risk of catching this virus,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D)
June 3, 2020 – BLM activist and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) leads a BLM protest march against law enforcement in Harrisburg, ‘just weeks after slamming local leaders and business owners as “cowardly” for moving to reopen their counties and businesses outside of his far-reaching lockdown orders.’
Wolf, who threatened business owners who signaled they would move to reopen their businesses outside of his guidelines, marched with protesters in Harrisburg… seemingly unbothered by the stark violations to his own orders.
Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine, the nation’s first openly transgender public health secretary, defended Wolf’s seeming violation of his own orders and warnings.
“The governor has always said that people have the right to protest and to demonstrate and the right of free speech,” Levine, whose birth name is Richard, said.
[Wolf] said that lawmakers “urging businesses to risk their lives and risk the lives of their customers or their employees by opening prematurely” were “engaging in behavior that is both selfish and unsafe.”
…in May 2022, it was revealed Black Lives Matter spent more than $12million on luxury properties in Los Angeles and in Toronto – including a $6.3million 10,000-square-foot property in Canada that was purchased as part of a $8million ‘out of country grant.’
The leaders of the movement splashed out almost $6 million on a luxury mansion near Los Angeles using funds from do-gooders.
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By Will Potter For Dailymail.Com
Published: 14:36 EDT, 25 June 2023 | Updated: 16:07 EDT, 25 June 2023
Black Lives Matter
In October 2020, Black Lives Matter was still grappling with the national attention it was receiving in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
Millions poured in from across the world… But what happened with those millions left supporters furious, and cash flowing into BLM’s coffers has dropped dramatically. Donations plunged by 88 percent between 2021 and 2022, from $77 million to just $9.3 million for the more recent financial year.
Patrisse Cullors co-founded the movement in 2013 before stepping down in 2021. The organization is also at risk of going bankrupt after its finances plunged $8.5 million into the red last year, while simultaneously handing multiple staff seven-figure salaries.
…
Yet, despite the financial controversy and scrutiny, BLM GNF continued to hire relatives of Cullors, and several board members.
Cullors’ brother, Paul Cullors, set up two companies which were paid $1.6million providing ‘professional security services’ for Black Lives Matter in 2022.
Paul was also one of BLM’s only two paid employees during the year, collecting a $126,000 salary as ‘head of security’ on top of his consulting fees. He is best known as a graffiti artist, with no background in security.
Cullors defended hiring him, saying registered security firms which hired former police officers could not be trusted, given the movement’s opposition to police brutality.
For the previous year, 2021, tax filings revealed that BLM paid a company owned by Damon Turner, the father of Cullors’ child, nearly $970,000 to help ‘produce live events’ and provide other ‘creative services.’
‘While Patrisse Cullors was forced to resign due to charges of using BLM’s funds for her personal use, it looks like she’s still keeping it all in the family,’ said Paul Kamenar, an attorney for the National Legal and Policy Center watchdog group.
A consulting firm run by BLM board member Shalomyah Bowers was paid $2.1million for providing the organization with operational support Bowers said the last BLM board approved the contract with his firm when he was not a board member.
The filing also revealed that Cullors reimbursed BLM $73,000 for a charter flight and paid the foundation $390 for private use of its $6million Los Angeles mansion.
Bowers, who took over from Cullors when she resigned, also benefitted handsomely from the group: in 2022, his consultancy firm was paid $1.7million for management and consulting services, the Free Beacon reported.
And the sister of former Black Lives Matter board member Raymond Howard was also employed in a lucrative role as a consultant.
Danielle Edwards’s firm, New Impact Partners, was paid $1.1million for consulting services in 2022, the Free Beacon said.
BLM GNF also agreed to pay an additional $600,000 to an unidentified former board member’s consulting firm ‘in connection with a contract dispute’.
The non-profit group ran an $8.5million deficit, and its investment accounts fell in value by nearly $10million in the most recent tax year, financial disclosures show.
The group logged a $961,000 loss on a securities sale of $172,000, suggesting the group sustained an 85 percent loss on the transaction. Further details of that security have not been shared.
A year later, in May 2022, it was revealed Black Lives Matter spent more than $12million on luxury properties in Los Angeles and in Toronto – including a $6.3million 10,000-square-foot property in Canada that was purchased as part of a $8million ‘out of country grant.’
The Toronto property was bought with grant money that was meant for ‘activities to educate and support black communities, and to purchase and renovate property for charitable use.’
The group had said it was planning to use the property as main headquarters in Canada, and it has now been named the Wilseed Center for Arts and Activism.
The leaders of the movement splashed out almost $6 million on a luxury mansion near Los Angeles using funds from do-gooders.
Situated on a manicured three-quarter-acre lot, the estate features a pool, tree-lined yard, outdoor fireplace, ‘butler’s pantry’, its own miniature filming studio, 24 parking spaces, and two separate guest houses along with the main house.
Earlier in the year, DailyMail.com also revealed the group blew $12.7million on ‘professional fees’, according to its application for tax-exempt, nonprofit status in August 2020. However, neither of those reports included records of the $6million property purchase made months earlier.
When pressed on the curious purchase, BLM leader Patrisse Cullors slammed criticism of her spending spree, which she branded ‘racist and sexist’.
In response to the backlash the group said: ‘There have been a lot of questions surrounding recent reports about the purchase of Creator’s House in California. Despite past efforts, BLMGNF recognizes that there is more work to do to increase transparency and ensure transitions in leadership are clear.’
BLM then proceeded to blame the media for the furore and the ‘inflammatory and speculative’ reports that saw journalists probing the group’s financials saying that it ’caused harm’
The reports ‘do not reflect the totality of the movement,’ the organization claimed.
PA Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 38 