Amazon Deals Massive Blow to BLM, Won’t Allow Users to Donate to It Through Amazon Due to BLM’s Alleged Financial Improprieties

As of February 15th, Amazon Smile, Amazon’s platform which allows users to donate some of the revenue from their purchases to selected charities, will no longer take donations for Black Lives Matter.

An Amazon representative told the Washington examiner that “Charitable organizations must meet the requirements outlined in our participation agreement to be eligible for AmazonSmile. Among other eligibility requirements, organizations are required to be in good standing in their state of incorporation and in the states and territories where they are authorized to do business. Organizations that don’t meet the requirements listed in the agreement may have their eligibility suspended or revoked. Charities can request to be reinstated once they are back in good standing.” 

On February 2nd, BLM stopped taking direct donations nationwide after the State of California threatened them with legal action over their violation of financial reporting standards. 

On January 1st, California sent BLM a letter stating that they were “delinquent with The Registry of Charitable Trusts for failing to submit [their] required annual report.” BLM is hereby prohibited from “soliciting or disbursing charitable funds” in California until this is rectified. Meanwhile, BLM faces additional fines for “each month or partial month for which the report(s) are delinquent.” 

But things get worse for BLM leadership because they can’t use their charitable assets, which total about $60 million, to pay these fines. The California letter notes that “Directors, trustees, officers and return preparers… are personally liable for payment of all penalties, interest and other costs incurred to restore [tax] exempt status.”

While this move is welcome, if overdue, Amazon has still donated $10 million to “racial justice” groups, primarily in the national upheaval surrounding the death of George Floyd. Speaking of the donations, the erstwhile leader of BLM, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, said: “People have to know we didn’t go out and solicit the money. This is money that came from white guilt, white corporation guilt, and they just poured money in.”

Khan Cullors left BLM last May due to her purchase of over $3 million in real estate in the past year, including a “custom ranch” in Georgia with a private airport. It remains unclear where this money came from, as the finances of BLM and its affiliates, non-profit and for-profit alike, are “difficult to trace.”