Posted on July 2, 2021

Black Lives Matter Leaders Met With Biden Officials

Brian Schwartz, CNBC, June 29, 2021

Black Lives Matter leaders met with members of President Joe Biden‘s team as the White House and lawmakers are negotiating the details of a potential police reform deal.

In a statement first provided to CNBC, Black Lives Matter said leaders recently met with White House officials to discuss their agenda. The activist group isn’t pleased with what has happened since the discussion, namely with proposals to give more funding to police departments.

“Leaders from Black Lives Matter met with White House officials earlier this year to discuss our policy agenda, and while we appreciate the chance to talk with them, we are surprised by their lack of progress on issues that matter to Black people, the same communities that so strongly supported Biden-Harris during last year’s election,” the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation told CNBC in an email Tuesday.

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The meeting and its aftermath indicate that Black Lives Matter and the Biden team are headed for a standoff. It’s also a sign that Black Lives Matter may not have as much influence in the Biden White House as the group had hoped.

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The president recently said that states could take from $350 billion in stimulus funds in order to give a boost to police departments. Biden has also announced a slate of actions his administration are taking to curb the uptick in crime and gun violence.

This hasn’t sat well with Black Lives Matter or activists calling for defunding police departments.

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