California and Washington have ordered Black Lives Matter Global Network to immediately halt fundraising operations.
The Daily Wire reports:
The BLM Global Network Foundation is the legal entity of the national BLM movement and has received tens of millions of dollars in donations in recent years. The foundation took in over $90 million in 2020, the year protests and riots erupted over the death of George Floyd. The organization has since faced backlash from local leaders who claim the umbrella group has been tightfisted and secretive about the mounds of cash it has raised ostensibly for activism.
On Jan. 31st, California’s attorney general sent a letter to the group threatening to hold the organization’s leadership liable if $60 million worth of donations received is not correctly reported within 60 days. [Read Next: Report: BLM at Risk of Losing Tax-Exempt Status]
Weeks earlier on January 5, the Washington Secretary of State Corporations and Charities Division sent a letter to the BLM national group warning that it could face a $2,000 fine for each in-state donation it receives before providing the state with detailed records on the group’s finances.
“Please note that a violation of the Act is also a violation of the consumer Protection Act … and could result in the imposition of injunctions and civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation,” the letter said, according to The Examiner. “Any organization that solicits and/or collects contributions in violation of the Act and CPA will be reported to the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division for further action.”
Both states banned the group from soliciting and receiving donations from residents within those states until records are received. According to The Examiner, the BLM group is also out of compliance with charity codes in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia.
This isn’t the first time Black Lives Matter Global Network has come under fire for its finances. Other grassroots BLM chapters have accused the national group of not doling out proper funds to grassroots chapters.
