December 5, 2023
The National Black Lives Matter organization and BLM Rhode Island both publicly distanced themselves from Mark Fisher.
The National Black Lives Matter organization and BLM Rhode Island have both publicly denounced the claims of Mark Fisher, who claimed to be a founder of BLM Rhode Island while endorsing Donald Trump for President during an interview with Fox News.
Providence Journal, Gary Dantzler, the current head of BLM Rhode Island, told The Providence Journal that Fisher was an advocate before “he got fired and demoted.” As for whether Fisher was a co-founder of the organization, Dantzler’s response was, “Absolutely noted.”
However, in the articles of incorporation filed by BLM Rhode Island in 2020, Fisher appears listed as a director despite Dantzler’s claims that he was only an advocate. Furthermore, Fisher posted an updated photo of a group of BLM Rhode Island to his Twitter/X account, and Dantzler is at the far left. By 2022, Fisher had been officially removed from the group. After appearances on the Kim Iversen Show and Fox And Friends,” where both programs referred to Fisher as a BLM leader, Fisher’s alleged association with BLM and BLM Rhode Island got media attention.
On Nov. 29, the Black Lives Matter Rhode Island Political Action Committee, a separate organization from BLM Rhode Island, issued a statement.
“The views expressed by Mr. Fisher in the referenced Fox News segment do not reflect the values or beliefs of BLM RI PAC,” the group said. “We would like to emphasize that Mark Fisher claims association with Black Lives Matter Rhode Island, a nonprofit organization. Any statements or actions attributed to him should not be conflated with our organization.”
The National Black Lives Matter organization released a joint statement with the BLM Rhode Island PAC on Nov. 30, calling Fisher’s claims “a publicity stunt.”
“The right wing continues to use and amplify fringe Black voices to create an idea of broad support for their corrupt candidates. Continuing to call Mark Fisher a Black Lives Matter leader is disingenuous and inappropriate,” the groups said. “Both the founder of BLM Rhode Island and BLM Rhode Island PAC have denounced Mark and have made it clear that he is an imposter.”
Continuing the discrediting of both Trump and Fisher’s claims, BLM Grassroots, which, though not officially affiliated with the National Black Lives Matter organization is a coalition of Black Lives Matter chapters fighting for liberation, also released a statement denying any knowledge of Fisher.
“Furthermore, Black Lives Matter Grassroots does not have a Rhode Island chapter, nor have we ever heard of this person, who some media outlets are presenting as a leader within our organization.”
According to CNN, Trump claimed on his social media platform Truth Social that he spoke with Fisher and was “very honored to have his and BLM’s support.”
Black Lives Matter referred to Trump as a terrorist in a Nov. 29 post to Twitter/ X before ultimately declaring that Trump is not a friend to Black people and emphasizing that the organization does not support Trump in any way, shape, or form.
