Black Lives Matter purchased a Southern California home for nearly $6 million using donations, according to new reports.
The 2020 purchase was first reported by New York Magazine on Monday. Last June, three of the group’s leaders recorded a video outside of the house they wished to keep a secret.
Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Melina Abdullah can be seen sitting “around a table on the patio of an expensive house in Southern California,” reported the magazine.
None of the women revealed any details on the upscale house seen behind them in the video.
New York Magazine reported that the house has “more than 6,500 square feet, more than half a dozen bedrooms and bathrooms, several fireplaces, a soundstage, a pool and bungalow, and parking for more than 20 cars”.
The property was purchased in October 2020 with money that was donated to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.
It was purchased by a man named Dyane Pascall shortly after BLMGNF received $66.5 million from its fiscal sponsor. Pascall is the financial manager for Janaya and Patrisse Consulting, an LLC run by Cullors and her spouse, Janaya Khan.
Within a week, ownership was transferred to an LLC in Delaware, ensuring the identity of the property’s new owner was not publicly disclosed.
The purchase was never reported by BLM and officials tried to keep it a secret. BLMGNF board member Shalomyah Bowers told the magazine that the residence served as “housing and studio space”.
“The organization always planned to disclose the property on the upcoming 990 due May 15th as part of BLMGNF’s ongoing transparency efforts,” Bowers said.