Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg—the Democrat leading the prosecution of former President Donald Trump—had backing in his 2021 election from an organization affiliated with the main Black Lives Matter group.
Color of Change is a partner organization of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the main organization behind the BLM movement. The Color of Change PAC, legally a separate entity, was funded directly by left-wing billionaire financier and political donor George Soros.
Soros donated $1 million to the Color of Change PAC on May 14, 2021, according to the Federal Elections Commission.
Soros’ donation came less than a week after the Color of Change PAC endorsed Bragg in the race for Manhattan district attorney and pledged $1 million to help elect him.
“This shows the lasting impact of BLM,” Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation and author of the book “BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution,” told The Daily Signal. “They are involved in policy in the Biden administration and they are involved in the indictment of a former president.” (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s multimedia news organization.)
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation—the primary nonprofit organization of the Black Lives Matter movement—lists Color of Change on its website among “partner” organizations.
“For too long, New Yorkers have lived under two systems of justice,” Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change and spokesperson for the Color of Change PAC, said in a May 8, 2021, statement.
“One system protects and privileges the powerful and well-connected; the other victimizes and penalizes people of color and the powerless,” Robinson said. “Alvin Bragg has the experience to run this critical office and the commitment to reform the criminal justice system to make New York safer and more just for everyone.”
“The nation’s largest online racial justice organization pledges $1M” to elect Bragg, the political action committee’s press release said. The PAC reportedly used the Soros donation to spend on efforts to elect Bragg, but the Soros donation was not earmarked for Bragg, according to reports.
Bragg was elected Nov. 2, 2021.
Last Thursday, the Color of Change, the 501(c)(3) group that is a partner with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, announced its support for a Manhattan grand jury’s indictment of Trump that day based on evidence brought by Bragg and his prosecution team.
“In this historic moment, Color of Change applauds New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who refused to let corporate influence, racist right-wing attacks, and threats of violence interfere with holding the former president accountable,” Robinson said.
The president of Color of Change continued:
This indictment provides a glimpse into what accountability of the rich and powerful can look like, and the role that progressive prosecutors can play. For weeks, Trump and his enablers in government and media tried to undermine this important legal process with lies and racist dog whistles. …
Color of Change is proud to support progressive district attorneys like DA Bragg who are committed to reforming the criminal legal system while demanding accountability from the rich and powerful.
Gonzalez, author of the book “BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution,” wrote about the connection between the main Black Lives Matter group and Bragg.
“Among its dozens of member groups figure Color of Change, a group funded by former Obama official (and former communist) Van Jones, which boasts of getting Pat Buchanan and Bill O’Reilly fired by MSNBC and Fox, respectively,” Gonzalez wrote in his book on BLM.
Color of Change has worked closely with the Movement for Black Lives, also known as M4BL, another partner with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.
“Though many publications have been involved in the effort to expose the FBI as some sort of Hooverian redoubt, the Intercept has led the chronicling and criticism of the FBI activity, relying sometimes on outfits like Color of Change, the M4BL,” Gonzalez’s book says. “The FBI’s reports quoted by the Intercept, for example, had been obtained by Color of Change following a Freedom of Information Act request in 2018.”
Gonzalez’s book also details other financial backers of Color of Change.
“Other lists reveal donations to ‘BLM,’ or to some of its partner organizations such as Color of Change, from Silicon Valley companies such as Cisco Systems, Intel, Intuit, Lending Tree, Bravado, DoorDash, Patreon, Skillshare, Loopio, Ubisoft, HelloFresh, Hinge, Guru, Invision and Carta,” the book says.
Neither the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation nor Color of Change responded to inquiries from The Daily Signal for this story.
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