Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are reportedly investigating whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars during racial justice protests in 2020, according to an Associated Press story published Thursday.
Law enforcement officials have issued subpoenas and at least one search warrant in recent weeks as part of the Justice Department probe into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and other Black-led organizations that helped kick off the widespread movement, AP reported.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles declined comment. BLM representatives in Oakland, California, did not return messages seeking comment. A Los Angeles-based BLM leader did not immediately respond to a City News Service request for comment.
The AP reported that in a statement emailed to the news service Thursday, the foundation said it “is not a target of any federal criminal investigation.”
The foundation also said in the statement, according to AP, “We remain committed to full transparency, accountability, and the responsible stewardship of resources dedicated to building a better future for Black communities.”
The AP reported that the inquiry is focused on the foundation’s handling of donations collected in the wake of the George Floyd killing, when the group saw a surge of more than $90 million in contributions. The murder of Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020 sparked protests across the U.S. and around the world.
AP said much of the information for the article came from people who were not authorized to discuss the probe and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Critics of the nonprofit BLM foundation have previously accused organizers of not being transparent about how it was spending the donations, according to AP, which said that in 2022 foundation leaders said they used donations to purchase a $6 million Los Angeles-area property that includes a home with six bedrooms and bathrooms.
AP says BLM leaders have denied wrongdoing and publicly released tax documents. No prior investigations into the nonprofit’s finances have yielded proof of impropriety, the article states.
The story said leaders of the BLM foundation have received subpoenas.
The Black Lives Matter movement first emerged in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. After the 2014 death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, the slogan “Black lives matter” became a rallying cry, according to AP.
The AP article said leaders of the BLM foundation opened up about finances and organizational structure in 2022, revealing accountings of expenditures. The latest Form 990 filing shows the BLM foundation had $28 million in assets for the fiscal year ending June 2024, according to AP.