Patrisse Cullors watched her cousin beg for help in "painfully disturbing" LAPD bodycam video

The season four premiere of “REVOLT Black News Weekly” aired on Friday (Jan. 27) to discuss the case of Keenan Anderson, address accusations that Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors mismanaged BLM donations, and explore the future of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. Global news anchor Mara S. Campo led the episode titled, “Investigating Black Lives Matter: The True Cullors Story.”

Campo opened the show by discussing the recent and tragic death of Cullors’ cousin Anderson. On Jan. 3, the 31-year-old Washington D.C. high school instructor died from cardiac arrest after he was tased repeatedly by Los Angeles Police Department officers.

Anderson was in LA visiting family when he was involved in a traffic collision. He reportedly flagged down officers and asked for assistance. At some point during the exchange, a chase ensued, he was held down by law enforcement and then tased numerous times as he begged for help.

Cullors told Campo that although she has been an advocate for police brutality victims for nearly a decade, she usually avoids watching bodycam footage or video shot by bystanders to protect her peace. “This video I needed to see; I needed to come up with my own conclusions,” she asserted. “I think the thing that was so painfully disturbing about witnessing that video is how often he begged for help.”

During the ordeal, body camera footage showed Anderson running into a busy street and away from officers before he was tased. Cullors argued Anderson darted into the street because “he [wanted] people to see him, so that there would be witnesses.”

“The fact he didn’t receive [help] is probably the most… the gravest injustice because if he received actual help, I believe wholeheartedly that my cousin would be alive today,” she proclaimed. “In some ways, I was prepared for this to happen to one of my family members.”

Campo then turned her attention to the allegations that Cullors mismanaged BLM donations to purchase real estate and luxury cars. The activist denied the accusations, saying, “I grew up mostly poor, so when I first started to have money, I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do with this. Let me hire a financial person to help me think about this.’”

She continued, “The people who helped me the most were Black women and Black women said, ‘Invest in property’… The first home I bought was in 2016.” During the segment, the BLM co-founder blamed “right-wing media” for spreading misinformation.

“The right-wing media was like all of a sudden I just bought a bunch of houses… It’s not true. It was a slow build,” she declared. Cullors told REVOLT that she generates revenue through speaking engagements, authoring books and collaborating with Warner Bros.

Later in the show, Campo and the BLM co-founder discussed the future of the organization following various scandals, lawsuits and turmoil amongst members. “We millennials weren’t trained to run institutions. The [Black Panther Party] and [Southern Christian Leadership Conference], all those were institutions, but we’re in a different economy. We’re in a different world. I wish someone would’ve sat with me down and said, ‘Hold on, this is how you run a nonprofit,’” Cullors stated.

She continued, “My suggestion for the next generation who wants to be at the helm of the next civil rights institutions or abolitionist institutions is to take a moment and actually get support around how do you run a business.”

Watch this week’s episode here. Plus, be sure to catch the new installment of “REVOLT Black News Weekly” on Friday, Feb. 3, 2022 at 5 p.m. ET via REVOLT’s app.