The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel peace prize by Norwegian member of parliament Petter Eide.

Eide said he nominated the organization because it is “bringing forward a new consciousness and awareness about racial justice,” according to the official nomination papers.

“BLM’s call for systemic change have spread around the world, forcing other countries to grapple with racism within their own societies,” he said.

Eide told ABC News that he has received threats and hateful messages since the nomination announcement but has no plans to rescind the nomination.

“This weekend I have received so many negative responses from individual Americans telling me that Black Lives Matter is a violent and aggressive organization, that they are deliberately using violence as a political communication tool and that nominating them for the Nobel Peace Prize is quite insane,” Eide said in an interview with ABC News.

Eide, who has represented the Socialist Left Party in the Norwegian parliament since 2017, said he researched the protest movement thoroughly before nominating it for the award that also includes a $1 million prize.

“We found studies showing more than 90% of the demonstrations in the U.S. were peaceful. Most of those incidents of violence was based on either aggressive police behavior or counter-demonstrations,” he said. “I’m quite convinced that Black Lives Matter is a peaceful organization.”

The Black Lives Matter movement was co-founded in 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in response to the acquittal of the man who shot Trayvon Martin. In 2014 the movement gained a strong following after the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. In 2020, BLM became a widespread movement following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Eide’s nomination papers concluded, “Awarding the peace prize to Black Lives Matter, as the strongest global force against racial injustice, will send a powerful message that peace is founded on equality, solidarity and human rights, and that all countries must respect those basic principles.”

The winner of the Peace Prize is selected in October and the award ceremony is scheduled for Dec 10.

Follow Annaliese Levy on Twitter @AnnalieseLevy