BLM Activist Demands Investigation after Leader's 'Real Estate-Buying Binge' Exposed
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors buys 4 properties worth $3.2 million
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The leader of Black Lives Matter's New York City wing is demanding an investigation into the finances of BLM after co-founder Patrisse Cullors' multi-million dollar "real estate-buying binge" was recently exposed.
Hawk Newsome, leader of Black Lives Matter Greater New York City, is calling for an investigation after a new report revealed that Cullors has purchased four expensive homes over the past several years.
As Neon Nettle reported, it emerged late last week that Cullors has just purchased a $1.4 million lavish new home in an exclusive California neighborhood that only has a population of 1.4% black residents.
Following a backlash, further reports revealed that the property purchase was just the latest in a string of home purchases that adds to Cullors' extravagant $3.4 million real estate portfolio.
In response, Newsome is demanding an "independent investigation" into the finances of Black Lives Matter and the organization's leaders.
"If you go around calling yourself a socialist, you have to ask how much of her own personal money is going to charitable causes," Newsome said.
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"It's really sad because it makes people doubt the validity of the movement and overlook the fact that it's the people that carry this movement," the New York activist told the New York Post.
"We need black firms and black accountants to go in there and find out where the money is going," he added.
According to the New York Post, Black Lives Matter co-founder Cullors went on a "real estate-buying binge, snagging four high-end homes for $3.2 million in the US alone" since 2016.
Not only does she own the $1.4 million property in Topanga Canyon that was widely reported on, but she has purchased three other properties in recent years.
She was even reportedly considered buying property in an exclusive resort in the Bahamas where Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake own property, according to The Blaze.
The three other properties include, according to the Post:
- A three-bedroom home in Inglewood, California, that she purchased in 2016 for $510,000, which is now reportedly worth approximately $800,000
- A four-bedroom home in South Los Angeles that she purchased in 2018 for $590,000, which is now reportedly worth $720,000
- A three-bedroom property on 3.2 acres in rural Conyers, Georgia, that reportedly has its own private runway that accommodates small airplanes
The average home price in the U.S. stands at around $270,000, according to Zillow, whereas the average home price in California is $635,000.
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Black Lives Matter has faced scrutiny over alleged transparency issues with their finances, especially considering the organization has both non-profit and for-profit arms.
Black Lives Matter said it raked in a staggering $90 million in donations last year alone.
From the New York Post:
Founded by Khan-Cullors and another activist, Kailee Scales, the non-profit Oakland, Calif.-based BLM Global Network Foundation was incorporated in 2017 and claims to have chapters throughout the US, UK and Canada, and a mission "to eradicate White supremacy and build power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities."
The group does not have a federal tax exemption and donations are filtered through ActBlue Charities and Thousand Currents, two non-profits that manage the cash.
At the same time that the Khan-Cullors incorporated the non-profit, she also set up the similarly named BLM Global Network, a for-profit which is not required to disclose how much it spends or pays its executives.
Neither Cullors nor Black Lives Matter have responded to the intensifying scrutiny around the group's finances.
