Canadian Black Lives Matter activists are furious over the group's recent $8.1 million cash purchase of a mansion in downtown Toronto that once served as the headquarters of the Communist Party of Canada .
BLM Canada co-founder Rodney Diverlus said in July that BLM Canada purchased the property "outright."
The U.S. charity that serves as the face of the BLM movement provided the bulk of the funding for the purchase of the 10,000-square-foot property in July. The purchase flew largely under the radar at the time, but anger has now reached a boiling point amid other revelations about BLM's management and its finances.
Real estate records obtained by the Washington Examiner show that BLM Canada, which also goes by M4BJ, purchased the property for $8.1 million on July 13, 2021. The purchase came just weeks after the group's co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, resigned amid scrutiny of her own personal real estate purchases across the United States.
Cullors' spouse, Janaya Khan, also serves as a director of BLM Canada, according to the group's Canadian charity registration.
BLM Canada's chairwoman, Sandy Hudson, said in an op-ed that the property came with a "history of resistance," having previously housed the Communist Party of Canada for over 30 years.
BLM revealed last February it raked in $90 million in 2020 from big corporations and individual donors after the police killing of George Floyd and the nationwide riots that followed. The group said it closed out 2020 with $60 million in its coffers.
A coalition of 10 local BLM chapters came out against the movement's national arm in late 2020, alleging that the group provided little to no financial support to local activists, while simultaneously offering no acceptable transparency surrounding its finances and operations.
