*A GoFundMe account for The Black Lives Matter Foundation has been frozen after it was revealed that the group is not affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Millions have reportedly been donated to the foundation, which is a Santa Clarita, California–based charitable organization that has one paid employee and lists a UPS store as its address, per BuzzFeed.
According to Business Insider, “employees from companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Dropbox also raised over $4 million for the group through the charity platform Benevity,” the outlet writes.
Robert Ray Barnes, the founder and sole paid employee of the foundation, told BuzzFeed News that his mission is vastly different from that of the BLM Movement.
“Our whole thing is having unity with the police department,” said Barnes.
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“I don’t have anything to do with the Black Lives Matter Global Network. I never met them; never spoke to them. I don’t know them; I have no relationship with them,” he added. “Our whole thing is having unity with the police department.”
Here’s more from the BuzzFeed report:
Based on estimates from BuzzFeed News, donors raised at least $4.35 million for the Black Lives Matter Foundation in the first weeks of June, though the bulk of that was frozen before it could be disbursed.
In some cases, companies including GoFundMe were unaware the foundation had no affiliation with the wider movement and froze funds only after being contacted by BuzzFeed News.
In a statement to BuzzFeed, a Black Lives Matter spokesperson confirmed that the groups are “two completely separate organizations” and that Barnes’ foundation “has nothing to do with us.”
“The Santa Clarita group is improperly using our name,” the spokesperson said. “We intend to call them out and follow up.”
You can read the full Buzzfeed report here.
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