Federal Investigation into Black Lives Matter Finances

Fri Oct 31 2025 07:09:44 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The Justice Department is probing alleged financial misconduct by leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement amid growing scrutiny of its financial practices since receiving millions in donations during the 2020 protests for racial justice.

The U.S. Justice Department is conducting an investigation into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation concerning potential fraud involving donations received during the 2020 racial justice protests. The probe has sparked renewed criticism regarding the organization's transparency and financial practices, which have been under scrutiny since it raised over $90 million following George Floyd's murder. Although a spokesperson for the foundation insists it is not a target of the investigation, previous criticism toward the group regarding its financial stewardship has resurfaced, especially after major purchases such as a $6 million property. The investigation raises questions about the accountability of organizations that mobilized significant public support during a critical moment in the U.S. racial justice movement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars during racial justice protests in 2020, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

In recent weeks, federal law enforcement officials have issued subpoenas and at least one search warrant as part of an investigation into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. and other Black-led organizations that helped spark a national reckoning on systemic racism, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss an ongoing criminal probe by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

It was not clear if the investigation would result in criminal charges, but its mere existence invites fresh scrutiny to a movement that in recent years has faced criticism about its public accounting of donations they have received. The recent burst of investigative activity is also unfolding at a time when civil rights groups have raised concerns about the potential for the Trump administration to target a broad variety of progressive and left-leaning groups that have been critical of him, including those affiliated with BLM, the transgender rights movement, and anti-ICE protesters.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department declined to comment on Thursday.

One of the people said the investigation had been initiated during the Biden administration but is getting renewed attention during the Trump administration. A second person confirmed that allegations were examined in the Biden administration.

The foundation said it took in over $90 million in donations, following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man whose last breaths under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer sparked protests across the U.S. and around the world.

Critics of the nonprofit foundation, and of the BLM movement broadly, accused organizers of not being transparent about how it was spending the donations. That criticism grew louder after BLM foundation leaders in 2022 confirmed they used donations to purchase a $6 million Los Angeles-area property that includes a home with six bedrooms and bathrooms.

Leaders previously have denied wrongdoing and publicly released tax documents. No prior investigations into the nonprofit’s finances have yielded proof of impropriety.

The Black Lives Matter movement first emerged in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. But it was the 2014 death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, that made the slogan “Black lives matter” a rallying cry for progressives and a favorite target of derision for conservatives.