BREAKING: Black Lives Matter movement nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination was put forth by Norwegian MP Petter Eide. BLM riots in the US led to the deaths of at least 25 people.

Eide's rationale for the nomination was that the BLM movement in America led other nations to see their own racism, according to The Guardian.

"I find that one of the key challenges we have seen in America, but also in Europe and Asia, is the kind of increasing conflict based on inequality," Eide said. "Black Lives Matter has become a very important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice. They have had a tremendous achievement in raising global awareness and consciousness about racial injustice."

Eide said that the mobilization efforts of the BLM movement were also impressive, nothing that "they have been able to mobilise people from all groups of society, not just African-Americans, not just oppressed people, it has been a broad movement, in a way which has been different from their predecessors."

He went on to say that "Studies have shown that most of the demonstrations organised by Black Lives Matter have been peaceful. Of course there have been incidents, but most of them have been caused by the activities of either the police or counter-protestors."

It was in August, during the riots in Kenosha, Wisc., that CNN coined the phrase "fiery but mostly peaceful" as regards the arson activity in that small city. A report released in September showed that out of the "2,400 distinct locations around the country" in which protests, demonstrations, and riots occurred, only about 220 of those locations were the site of violence. Portland, which was one of the locations subject to violence, saw more than 100 nights of rioting in a row.

BLM is led by three radical activists, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi. Cullors claimed that there was a double standard in effect for the Capitol Hill riot versus the BLM riots that rocked the nation following the death of George Floyd in May in Minneapolis. Over 100 people have been arrested in connection with the one-day riot in Washington, DC on Jan. 6, and are many are facing federal charges.

While there were plenty of arrests made in the BLM riots that lasted throughout the summer, advocates were successfully able to convince prosecutors both to release the rioters from custody and in many cases to dismiss charges.

BLM was founded after the civilian, self-styled security guard who shot and killed teen Trayvon Martin in Florida was acquitted of charges in 2013. Martin's death sparked an outcry, as the young man was neither armed nor doing anything illegal.

The deadline for Peace Prize nominations is February 1. Donald Trump was nominated for the Peace Prize last year for his work securing peace between Israel and her Arab neighbours in the Middle East. That prize ultimately went to the World Food Programme, which is an arm of the United Nations.