$300,000 to BLM Lake County
Updated: Jun 5
We mentioned it before, now here’s the rest of the story,
Completely ignored by the Democrats and Media.
The most recent Illinois budget includes a $300,000 grant to Black Lives Matter Lake County. The group is led by a convicted felon and appears to be defunct.
Formed in 2017, the organization’s registered agent according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office is Clyde McLemore. Mr. McLemore made news just months ago in December 2022 for apparently being charged with felony bail jumping in Wisconsin. (Felony bail jumping can be charged when someone is out on bond and fails to appear for a court proceeding or when someone violates the conditions of the bond. The law on this is different among states.)
Here's what happened.
In August 2020, Mr. McLemore was arrested in Kenosha, Wisc. and “charged with felony battery to a police officer and disorderly conduct after he allegedly kicked a door at the Kenosha Courthouse and threatened to "break the fingers" of a Kenosha police officer.” Read the story here in Lake County Gazette.
Before McLemore’s case went to trial in October 2022, he was charged with criminal trespass after he became disruptive at a Waukegan City Council meeting and would not leave.
The criminal trespass charge is what apparently led to the bail jumping charge as he was still out on bond for the Aug 2020 charges.
Those August 2020 charges of battery to a police officer and disorderly conduct were finally adjudicated in December 2022. He was convicted of only the misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.
This isn't his first run-in with the law. McLemore’s lawbreaking started years ago. According to Court records, he “pled guilty to criminal felony battery and criminal misdemeanor battery multiple times, as well as faced orders of protection over stalking, most recently in 2020 and 2019,” as reported by Lake County Gazette.
This also isn’t the first $300,000 Black Lives Matter Lake County has received in taxpayer money. Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave them $300,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds in 2021.
Think about that – Pritzker gave them $300k of your money while their leader was under FELONY charges for battery of a police officer! And no legislator said anything.
Here’s a screenshot of the December 2021 Report to the Legislative Budget Oversight Committee, page 7 which shows the disbursement. Note the amounts are in millions, so the .3 represents $300,000.
(Also, why was COVID money given to the Elite Striders Drill Team?)
THE STORY GETS EVEN WORSE
Black Lives Matter Lake County Appears to be Out of Business
We did an internet search for Black Lives Matter Lake County and we only got links to a few articles and the group’s Facebook page where there have only been two posts in the last 18 months. Under the about section for the Facebook page, the website returns an error message and the phone number listed goes nowhere.
Additionally, as far as we can tell they have no physical presence in the community even though they opened an office in 2020.
To much fanfare, including a major Chicago Tribune article, BLM Lake County opened up physical offices across from the Lake County Court House at 111 N. County St. in Waukegan. However, Lake County Gazette reported that, “… according to Lake County Court records, building manager Mon Ami Realty filed a commercial eviction notice with the court against McLemore and Black Lives Matter of Lake County on Jan. 3, 2022.”
We did a physical inspection of the office location earlier last week and the building was locked tight, windows were broken in what appears to be office space, and there was no visible activity in the building. We also drove around the block and noticed another store front with BLM signage and stopped in to see if they had moved offices. They hadn’t. And the owner of the shop that had the BLM and other identity group signage said he knew Clyde well but that he was always moving offices and hadn’t kept up with him. The shop owner attempted to call Clyde, but got no answer.
Here’s a picture of Clyde McLemore from the Kenosha County Eye in this article about his alleged felony bail jumping charge.
IS THIS WHAT YOU SENT YOUR TAX MONEY TO SPRINGFIELD FOR?
Democrats just gave a convicted felon who runs a Facebook group for a Marxists organization $300,000 of your money.
Here’s some questions that should be asked and answered:
What did BLM Lake County do with the first $300,000?
When did BLM Lake County receive the $300,000? Their IRS 990 form shows income of only $50,000 in 2021.
Who asked that this specific grant line be added to the budget?
What does BLM LC plan to do with the next $300,000?
What public good does this public money support?
This entire story is aggravating. Sounds like it’s a small deal, just $300k in a $50.6 billion budget. It isn’t. The Democrats, and some Republicans, are very cavalier with other people’s money. This story is an illustration of their lackadaisical approach to everything. Not just budgeting – but everything.
*Thank you to the Illinois Freedom Caucus for alerting taxpayers to this budget item.