The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has been suspended from Amazon’s charity platform amid controversy about the group’s financial disclosures.
AmazonSmile, which donates a portion from purchases to designated nonprofits, still lists many local Black Lives Matter chapters on its charity list, but the BLMGNF is missing.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, an Amazon spokesperson said “We offer the AmazonSmile program to make it easy for our customers to support their favorite charitable organizations, and we work to offer a broad spectrum of organizations, including those working to end racial injustice.
“States have rules for nonprofits, and organizations participating in AmazonSmile need to meet those rules. Unfortunately this organization fell out of compliance with the rules in several states, so we’ve had to temporarily suspend them from the program until they come into compliance,” the spokesperson said.
They also said “customers who have already selected them in AmazonSmile are able to continue supporting them, and we’ll hold any funds accrued until they’re back in compliance”.
BLMGNF shut down all of its fundraising online after attorneys general in California and Washington state demanded it submit delinquent financial disclosures for 2020, according to the Washington Examiner.
New York Post reported that “In Oct. 2020, BLMGNF took in more than $65 million in donations from Thousand Currents, a charity that manages assets of grassroots non-profits”.
The group has failed to disclose what it did with the money it received and remains out of compliance in California, Washington, New Jersey, North Carolina, Connecticut, Colorado, Maryland, Maine and Virginia, reported the Examiner.
On Feb. 11, BLMGNF released its federal tax filing, but “changed its accounting period from a calendar year to a fiscal year. The filing shows no contributions or grants between the January to June reporting period,” said the Post.
It is unclear who leads BLMGNF since its co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, resigned in May 2021.