Department of Homeland Security reviews complaint on onePULSE Foundation

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Department of Homeland Security is reviewing a complaint on onePULSE Foundation.

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The agency received a complaint last December, claiming the Foundation misused nearly a quarter million dollars from a federal grant.

This comes amid controversy about how the onePULSE Foundation spent millions of dollars in donations and taxpayer money. The Foundation officially dissolved this year after canceling the proposed Pulse Museum and Memorial project it set out to create.

According to e-mails obtained by 9 Investigates, the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA’s Major Fraud Investigations Branch are currently reviewing how onePULSE Foundation spent nearly $248,000 that was meant “to bolster anti-hate educational platforms.”

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On its former website, the onePULSE Foundation announced in September 2022 that it received the “targeted violence and terrorism prevention grant” from Homeland Security.

The Foundation’s grant application said it needed the money to create an online virtual platform to increase critical thinking and use the ‘Outlaw Hate’ campaign to engage in educational services.

The application said the Foundation planned to use half of the grant on staff and benefits, including the salaries of executives like Earl Mowatt, vice president of education, and Scott Jackson, vice president of marketing.

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The Foundation said in the application, it would take about ten months to create this online virtual platform. The Foundation announced it was dissolving in November 2023, over a year after it announced receiving the grant.

“They promised all of these things and haven’t delivered. And now they’re dissolved,” said Zachary Blair with Victims First, a group that advocates for Pulse shooting survivors and victims’ families.

Blair filed the complaint in December, stating onePULSE Foundation never created an education platform.

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Instead, the complaint says the ‘Outlove Hate’ campaign was a fundraising site.

However, onePULSE Foundation did have a program called the “onePULSE Academy”. The website, onepulseacademy.org, says the platform was funded by DHS’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships. According to the application, the onePULSE Academy existed before onePULSE applied for funding.

The website says the program uses “an empathy-building model that includes our Conversation Starters, Social Visionary Series, Annual Remembrance Culture Symposium, Ethic and Cultural understanding, and other social issues initiatives.”

An archive of the webpage features a message showing if you donate $49, you could add your portrait to the permanent display at the Pulse Museum.

“Which, you know, is not being built. I think that’s the biggest thing is who has oversight, who’s holding them accountable? And you know, what happens next?” Blair told 9 Investigates.

The complaint is now being reviewed by Homeland Security.

Recipients of this grant do not receive funds in a lump sum. They request reimbursement after incurring allowable costs in accordance with their approved budget.

9 Investigates reached out to the onePULSE Foundation’s legal team for comment Tuesday. The organization’s attorney, R. Scott Shuker, provided Channel 9 the following statement Friday:

“The grant... was a “draw-down” grant, meaning the money OPF received was reimbursement for expenses submitted to and approved by DHS. In fact, a DHS representative was heavily involved with OPF staff in planning the programming funded by the grant with consistent, regular follow up to ensure expenses submitted for reimbursement were proper and accurate. Again, every dollar received through this DHS grant was a reimbursement for an approved expense.”

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