BRISTOL, England (LifeSiteNews) — On October 31, the Bristol Crown Court sentenced one of the United Kingdom’s main Black Lives Matter (BLM) organizers to two-and-a-half years in prison for fraud by abuse of position.
Xahra Saleem, 23, pleaded guilty to stealing money from a fundraising page set up prior to a BLM protest held in Bristol on June 7, 2020, in the wake of unrest in the United States following George Floyd’s death.
Saleem was one of the chief organizers of the BLM protest in Bristol, which was met with widespread disgust when vandals pulled down the statue of British philanthropist Edward Colston and dumped it in Bristol Harbor.
According to the BBC, Saleem used her position as director of Bristol-based youth charity “Changing Your Mindset” to steal over £32,000 through a fundraising page launched under the guise of buying personal protective equipment (PPE) to adhere to COVID restrictions ahead of the BLM protest.
It was agreed after the BLM protest that Saleem would transfer any excess funds from the controversial march to the youth charity she helped set up. The Bristol Magistrates Court subsequently heard that the youth charity never received any funds from Saleem.
Judge Michael Longman told the court that Saleem instead made over 2,500 payments to her personal bank accounts during the period between June 2020 and September 2021, using the stolen funds to pay for her “living expenses, a new iPhone, hair and beauty appointments, clothing, Amazon orders, takeaways and taxis.”
In sentencing Saleem, Longman told Saleem that the money she helped raise should have been for “a worthwhile cause,” rather than “a lifestyle for yourself that you could not otherwise have afforded.”
Nana Akua, a GB News presenter, said she was “not surprised” by the outcome of the case, adding that it exposes the “fraudulent” nature of Black Lives Matter.
“They’re capitalizing on white guilt; they’ve made about $90 million from it,” she added.
This is not the first time members of the far-left organization have been caught stealing from money they raised.
In April 2022, New York Magazine‘s “Intelligencer“ reported that BLM leaders in the U.S. embezzled millions in fundraising money. The report revealed a $6 million home in Southern California was purchased with donated funds to BLM.
In addition to a history of criminality among its high-ranking leaders, BLM’s founders have openly acknowledged that they are “trained Marxists” driven by “ideological theories.”
Recent tax filings have revealed that the BLM movement may be on the brink of bankruptcy. The last fiscal year ended with a $9 million deficit for the organization.