The father of Michael Brown, who was fatally shot by police in 2014, has signed on to a group demanding accountability and transparency from Black Lives Matter.
Michael Brown Sr. has signed his name to a new group called BLM 10 Plus, which seeks financial transparency from BLM Global Network Foundation, as controversy surrounding BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullor and her lavish lifestyle continues to bubble.
“Referring to initial calls for more transparency and accountability from the ‘BLM 10,’ the name for the ten original BLM chapters, a new group, deemed the ‘BLM 10 Plus’ is now speaking out,” Fox News reported Friday.
“The number of chapters that have aligned in support of our statement has nearly doubled,” said a statement from BLM 10 Plus, issued Friday. “Some of these chapters have made their own statements echoing not only our call to accountability but also our experiences as we sought transparency, democracy, and internal transformation for years.”
“The BLM 10 Plus continues the call for transparency and most importantly, for principled accountability in movement infrastructures,” the group added. “The issues we’ve highlighted within the Black Lives Matter movement are not unique to this group or to people of color. Grassroots movements have been co-opted across the globe and it is our intention to be a part of the collective creating processes based on integrity so that we, nor any other activist or advocate, encounters these avoidable issues in the future.”
According to DailyMail.com, the group is demanding to see how the $90 million raised by the organization has been spent:
Black Lives Matter took in $90 million in 2020, and was left with a balance sheet of $60 million by January 2021. Around $8 million was spent on expenses, including staffing costs with the other $20 million donated to local chapters and nonprofits.
Those numbers – and news of Cullors’ property portfolio – has led to questions about how BLM is spending its money, and complaints over a lack of transparency from bereaved families previously supported by the group.
As highlighted by The Daily Wire on Friday, Cullors, who has since stepped down from her position with the organization, has reportedly put up $35,000 worth of fencing and an electric gate around her $1.4 million secluded Los Angeles home, where the population is reportedly less than 2% black.
As highlighted by Fox News, a neighbor who spoke to a subcontractor told DailyMail.com that the erected wooden fence around the pricey property, in addition to other “exterior improvements,” totaled up to around $35,000.
“It will have an electronic gate at the driveway portion, a walk up door, and call box, and other safety measures, cameras – you know, to keep the riff raff out,” the neighbor said.
DailyMail.com reported that “photos of the property reveal the fencing and gate project was near completion.”