Black Lives Matter, or commonly known as BLM has a great cause in helping the African American people in the United States. It is a commonly known fact that minorities in America can be treated differently especially with police violence.
The movement came to life due to the killings of unarmed African Americans by the police force. It was founded in the year 2013, the year where George Zimmerman was acquitted from killing Trayvon Martin who was only 17-years-old in early 2012. BLM has since campaigned for the justice of victims like Martin.
Patrisse Cullors, BLM’s co-founder’s
The co-founder of BLM, Patrisse Cullors stated that President Joe Biden has not done enough to address the issues of police brutality and systemic racism. She stated, “Every year, families, community members, organisers have said this must stop and there’s a different way to do this. And yet there has been deep cowardice from officials.”
Cullors also called on the government to take action on the issue of traffic stops, which she said are “one of the most dangerous interactions between law enforcement and black and brown communities.” She said that the Department of Transportation should “fund programs to remove law enforcement from traffic stops” and “invest in community-based solutions to address traffic safety.”
The Biden administration has come under fire for not doing more to combat systemic racism and police violence, prompting Cullors’ remarks. The president has taken some action to address these issues, such as establishing a police reform commission through an executive order, but many activists and supporters believe that more needs to be done.
Netizen reaction towards Cullors’ remarks
https://twitter.com/DemforDeSantis/status/1622729319146569730?s=20&t=hUTwefIEcIKwowmaC5-E6w
Despite the organisation setting themselves out for a good cause, they still receive criticisms towards it. Shockingly, this comment appears to be from a Democrat that claims Patrisse Cullors and Joe Biden are both “corrupt” people that are going against each other.
https://twitter.com/DemforDeSantis/status/1622730945248874502?s=20&t=hUTwefIEcIKwowmaC5-E6w
It appears that this Twitter user has made more lewd comments towards the co-founder and claimed that she wanted the President to defund the police even further. This could probably stem from the alleged accusations towards the founders of the group embezzling money that was collected from the donations.
According to NBC News, BLM activists accused executives for stealing $10 million in donation money.
On September 2022, Shalomyah Bowers, the founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, and his Bowers Consulting Firm are charged in a lawsuit filed last Thursday in Los Angeles, California, with “syphoning” millions of dollars from the organisation into his own “personal piggy bank.”
Additionally, according to the lawsuit, these activities sparked inquiries from state and federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, which they claim “blazed a path of irreparable harm to BLM in less than eighteen months.”