Twenty-six chapters of the civil rights organization Black Lives Matter Grassroots are suing the national BLM organization over claims that an executive of the BLM Global Network Foundation (GNF) siphoned over $10 million in donations over the past year and a half.

The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by BLM Grassroots, a separate organization from the Black Lives Matter GNF. BLM Grassroots operates at the local level doing the work of spreading the organization's vision and mission while GNF operates primarily as a fundraising entity.

Accused in the lawsuit are GNF board member Shalomyah Bowers and his consulting firm. According to the lawsuit, Bowers used “donor fees” associated with his consulting firm to siphon $10 million in donations from the organization.

Melina Abdullah is a founder of the Los Angeles BLM chapter. During a press conference last week, she took aim at the GNF board, accusing them of operating in the complete opposite manner of the organization's original mission and purpose of being a civil rights organization. “Global Network Foundation has been taken away from the people who built it,” Abdullah explained. “Global Network Foundation is now led by a highly paid consultant who paid himself upwards of $2 million in a single year.”

Browers was brought into his position at GNF through one of BLM's founders, Patrisse Cullors. As detailed in the complaint, Abdullah explained that Cullers had initiated a transition plan in which control would be transferred over from the GNF to the BLM Grassroots organization.

However, Cullors was allegedly locked out of GNF's social media accounts, and the GNF began dispersing messaging and marketing material that went against Culler's vision for the organization.

The lawsuit goes on to detail that GNF ignored the transition plan in place. "Mr. Bowers and the GNF Leadership Council agreed to execute the transition plan set forth by Ms. Cullors. However, Mr. Bowers, who made $2,167,894 million dollars from GNF in less than eight months, decided he wanted to keep the 'piggy bank' that GNF had become to him and his company."

The lawsuit goes on to allege that Bowers initiated a calculated plan to take over the organization. "Within months, Bowers had run these well-respected advocates out of the organization," the suit alleges. "Through a series of misrepresentations and unauthorized backroom dealings, Mr. Bowers managed to steal control over GNF as the sole Board member and officer."

The GNF has responded to the allegations against them in a press conference statement. “We as Black people and Black-led organizations cannot continue spending all of our precious time and energy fighting and tearing each other down,” their statement details. “We have no desire and little time to put private business out in the street. However, Melina Abdullah, BLMGR, and its leadership seem intent on fighting publicly about their desire to control the entirety of Black Lives Matter.”

GNF also contends that there was never a plan in place to transition control over to BLM Grassroots. GNF's board of directors contends that they have tried to set up a meeting with Abdullah and other Grassroots leaders but to no avail.

After the death of Trayvon Martin in 2013 and the acquittal of his killer, George Zimmerman, the nation rallied against the treatment of unarmed black Americans, giving rise to the civil rights group Black Lives Matter. The original creators of the organization, Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi started the organization after the trending hashtag, Black Lives Matter, became a national symbol of justice. Following national support, local chapters of Black Lives Matter began to pop up throughout the nation, creating the collective BLM Grassroots organization. In 2017, BLM GNF was incorporated and mainly served as the fundraising component of the organization.

In 2020, Black Lives Matter sprouted again as a national phenomenon following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers. Renewed support for the organization and the rights of unarmed black Americans lead the BLM GNF to see a whopping $90 million in revenue generated from donations.

This massive funding in donations was quickly followed by extreme scrutiny from the public and BLM organizers themselves. There have been questions raised about how the organization has spent the 90 million dollars with little answers to show for allocation and funding use. BLM executives were further scrutinized after a six million-dollar home was purchased with donated money.