White Aussie unionist running Black Lives Matter

The Herald reports:

On the surface, the Facebook page had all the markings of an authentic Black Lives Matter group.

Its profile picture — “BLACK LIVES MATTER” in block text against a bright yellow background — echoed the style and colors of the one used on Blacklivesmatter.com.

The “Black Lives Matter”-emblazoned merchandise sold through the Facebook page all benefited related causes.

And it had nearly 700,000 followers, making it the largest Facebook page affiliated with the movement.

 

Or so people thought.

As it turns out, the page was apparently a fraud, tied to an Australian man who had also registered dozens of other domain names related to black civil rights causes, according to a CNN investigation. And it remained in operation for more than a year, despite multiple efforts to warn Facebook that the page might be fraudulent.

The alleged “Black Lives Matter” Facebook page also brought in at least US$100,000 in donations through third-party online fundraisers such as PayPal and Patreon, CNN reported. But the network’s investigation found some of that money was deposited into Australian bank accounts, and that at least one online fundraising account was linked to Ian Mackay, an official with the National Union of Workers, an Australian trade union.

How unusual – a unionist with a strong capitalist streak.