The very nasty divorce between the grassroots cells of the BLM and the overarching Black Lives Matter Global Network headed up by Patrisse Cullors and Melina Abdullah continues. In Ferguson, Missouri Michael Brown, Sr. and activist Tory Russell of the International Black Freedom Alliance demand $20 million from BLM Global Network after it was revealed the organization brought in $90 million last year.
Brown’s son was Michael Brown, Jr. was an 18 year old man who was killed while attacking police in 2014. False media coverage portraying him as an innocent victim of police resulted in riots that erupted throughout the nation and caused devastating damage to 17 businesses rendering them inoperable in the Ferguson area. A sum total of 37 buildings were damaged in all with the costs up to nearly $4.6 million. Brown Sr. claimed that he received only $500 since his son’s death. Many would argue that is $500 more dollars than he is entitled to, rather that he among the other “activists” (read: rioters) should be held liable.
Today our co-founder, #Ferguson frontline organizer @VanguardTNT alongside #MikeBrown's father demands 20 million from #BlackLivesMatter in order to continue the work they and other have been doing since the uprising since 2014. pic.twitter.com/4rDA28ZKnB
— TheIBFA (@THEIBFA) March 2, 2021
The Ferguson Rioters Claim Against BLM
According to Fox News,
“The International Black Freedom Alliance claimed that local activists have not been properly funded amid the surge of donations to Black Lives Matter.”
“Today, we hold Black Lives Matter accountable,” Russell said in a video Tuesday alongside the elder Brown. “What kind of movement are we building where we’re saying, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ but the freedom fighters and the families are being left behind?”
“They believe the momentum from the 2014 unrest and the subsequent protest that local activists organized for several months after were the catalyst for the group being propelled into the position to receive the $90 million,” the International Black Freedom Alliance wrote in a press release Tuesday. “Now they demand funding from the group to the tune of $20 million in order to continue the work they started.”
What do they want to fund? The Black Panthers 2.0
(No, not the Superhero)
Russell has claimed that the funds would be directed “toward annual commemorations of Michael Brown Jr.’s life, mutual aid programs, Black Panther-style services, as well as fellowships and stipends to fight White supremacy.” Would that include an honest representation of the last five minutes of Brown’s life? When he tragically chose to assault Police officers at the cost of it?
After a series of investigations by federal officials, that narrative fell apart. Eventually, former President Barack Obama’s Justice Department concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense after Brown attacked him and reached for his gun.
The Washington Examiner reminds us succinctly,
“After a series of investigations by federal officials, that narrative fell apart. Eventually, former President Barack Obama’s Justice Department concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense after Brown attacked him and reached for his gun.”
The Court of Appeals even explained in the final Obama DOJ report,
“Although [the suspect] had by this time thrown his firearm in the snow, … [the
officer] did not observe that action. Instead of complying with [the officer’s]
command to get on the ground, [the suspect] turned and moved toward the
officer. [Plaintiffs], noting that [the suspect’s] arms were raised above his head
or extended at his sides, suggest that [the suspect] was simply trying to find a
suitable place to get on the ground, because his truck sat near a tree and
snowbank. But even if [the suspect’s] motives were innocent, a reasonable
officer on the scene could have interpreted [the suspect’s] actions as resistance.
It is undisputed that [the suspect] continued toward [the officer] despite the
officer’s repeated orders to get on the ground …. Thus, a reasonable officer
could believe that [the suspect’s] failure to comply was a matter of choice
rather than necessity.”
Michael Brown, Jr. tragically died that day in 2014, in the course of committing a crime, purely due to his own actions. A human life was lost and that is always regrettable. However, he wasn’t murdered, he wasn’t shot because he was black, he was shot because he resisted arrest with a firearm and attacked an officer. Period.
That shouldn’t get his family any money from anyone.