Black Lives Matter has used nearly $6 million donation money to purchase a fancy Southern California home, according to a report on Monday.
Three BLM leaders, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Melina Abdullah, were videotaped outside of the “secretly bought” swanky home last June while celebrating the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, according to the NY magazine’s report.
At the time, Cullors said she was weeks done living in “survival mode” after New York Post exclusively reported in April that Cullors had purchased four high-end US homes for $3,2 million.
“It’s because we’re powerful, because we are winning,” Cullors said of what she characterized as right-wing media attacks. “It’s because we are threatening the establishment, we’re threatening white supremacy.”
However, Cullors and her colleagues revealed no details about the luxury home in front of which they recorded the video. According to a real estate listing, the 6,500-square-foot mansion has more than six bedrooms and bathrooms. The house has fireplaces, a pool, and a parking lot that can contain more than 20 cars.
The property was bought in October 2020 with money that had been previously donated to the BLM Global Network Foundation, the exclusive report said.
The seven-bedroom apartment was purchased in the name of a man named Dyane Pascall fourteen days after the Foundation received $66.5 million from its sponsor earlier that month. Pascall is the financial manager for an LLC operated by Cullors and her husband, Jayana Khan, NY Magazine reported.
The property’s ownership was later transferred to an LLC in Delaware, ensuring the anonymity of the owner. In May last year, Cullors, who is BLM’s co-founder, resigned as the foundation’s executive director after she was criticized for purchasing three homes in Los Angeles and another in the state of Georgia.
BLM officials had tried to keep the purchase of the nearly $6 million home a secret from a reporter who attempted to look into the transaction, according to the report.
The organization tried to “kill” the story about the home – which is referred to internally as the “complex” – while one strategy memo reportedly suggested it might be used as an “influencer house” where artists can congregate.
In a statement released on Friday, one of the organization’s board members, Shalomyah Bowers, said the property was bought with the purpose for it to serve as housing and studio space for recipients of the Black Joy Creators Fellowship.
The foundation had “always planned” to disclose the home’s legal filings this May and it doesn’t serve as anyone’s personal residence, Bowers said.
The property was acquired in “furtherance of BLM’s mission,” as well as for any ancillary usages as needed, Bowes said in a statement to The Post Monday.
“The organization always planned to disclose the property on the upcoming 990 due May 15th as part of BLMGNF’s ongoing transparency efforts,” Bowers’ statement continued. “BLMGNF has and continues to utilize the space for programming and leadership off-sites. The property does not serve as a personal residence.”
Meanwhile, one Missouri activist said he was dismayed upon learning about the property in California.
“It’s a waste of resources,” Ferguson activist Tory Russell told New York magazine.
