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1:33 ET

US Published September 4, 2022 11:11am EDT

Black Lives Matter leader accused of

stealing $10M from organization:
'Unjust enrichment'
Shalomyah Bowers accused those suing him of 'falling victim to the carceral logic' of the legal system

By Jon Brown | Fox News

BLM facing scrutiny after tax documents allege donations were given to family members
The 'Outnumbered' panel discussed the scandal and the repercussions on the broader 'Black Lives Matter' movement itself.

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A lawsuit filed on behalf of 26 grassroots Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapters last week
alleged that the leader of the national organization siphoned $10 million in charitable
contributions to pay for his own personal expenses.

Black Lives Matter Grassroots (BLMGR), a nonprofit that serves as the umbrella group for
local BLM chapters nationwide, claimed in the lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles County
Superior Court that Shalomyah Bowers, the leader of Black Lives Matter Global Network
Foundation (BLMGNF), defrauded the local chapters for "unjust enrichment" and used their
funds as his "personal piggy bank."

BLMGNF, which received more than $90 million in the wake of George Floyd’s death in
2020, represents the national BLM movement.

Bowers, described as a "rogue administrator" and "middle man turned usurper," led the
foundation to be investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and "[blazed] a path of
irreparable harm to BLM in less than eighteen months," according to the suit. "While BLM
leaders and movement workers were on the street risking their lives, Mr. Bowers remained
in his cushy offices devising a scheme of fraud and misrepresentation to break the
implied-in-fact contract between donors and BLM."

BLACK LIVES MATTER PAID NEARLY $4M TO BOARD SECRETARY, CO-FOUNDER'S

BROTHER, AND FATHER OF HER CHILD

Melina Abdullah, the director of BLMGR and a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter, said
at a recent press conference that "the assets that we built, the financial resources, the
social media platforms and the name ‘Black Lives Matter’ have been taken from us and
are under the control of consultants."

BLACK LIVES MATTER PAID NEARLY $4M TO BOARD SECRETARY, CO-FOUNDER'S

BROTHER, AND FATHER OF HER CHILD

BLMGNF's board of directors denied the allegations in a lengthy statement posted to their
website Thursday. "Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) is here to
give light and fight for Black liberation," the statement said in part. "Make no mistake, the
allegations of Melina Abdullah and BLM Grassroots (BLMGR) are false. They are
slanderous and devoid of reality."

Shalomyah Bowers, left, Cicley Gay, center, and D'Zhane Parker pose for a portrait on Friday, May 13, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP
Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Bowers and his group went on to scold those who are suing him, accusing them of "falling
victim to the carceral logic and social violence that fuels the legal system."

"They would rather take the same steps of our white oppressors and utilize the criminal
legal system which is propped up by white supremacy (the same system they say they
want to dismantle) to solve movement disputes," they said.

SOLE BLM-BACKED FEDERAL CANDIDATE CHARGED WITH WIRE FRAUD SCHEME

INVOLVING CAMPAIGN AND PARTY FUNDS

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Patrisse Cullors is one of the three co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times via
Getty Images)

Bowers is a close associate of BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, who resigned from
BLMGN in May 2021 after allegations she misused millions of dollars in donation money.

Disclosures found that the foundation paid $6 million for a Los Angeles compound in
2020. BLMGN received backlash following the purchase, including from some of the
organization's supporters.

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BLMGN also dished out $2.1 million to Bowers's firm, Bowers Consulting, between July
2020 and June 2021, according to tax forms the BLMGN provided to the Associated
Press.

Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.

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