A complete accounting of every dollar raised by Shaun King throughout the Black Lives Matter Movement

Shaun King Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 26, 2015

Yesterday, on Christmas Day, I received a message from CNN’s Sara Sidner, who works closely with Don Lemon, that she is helping lead a story about how I have misappropriated funds from the Black Lives Matter movement. Here it is:

First off, to receive a message like that on the middle of Christmas Day pretty much ruined the day for my entire family. I spent the rest of the day and night (my first day off with my family in months) strategizing with friends, family, and advisors on how we could best respond to this foolishness. Before you say, “Shaun, don’t respond, you’ve said and done enough,” STOP.

These lies are doing VERY REAL DAMAGE to my name, to my reputation, to my wife and kids as people ask them about this BS, and to the families I’ve helped raise money for as they continue to have to waste their time talking about this. We are actively in the process of planning defamation lawsuits against every person and outlet who has egregiously reported that I have done anything wrong with funds in this movement. We were going to release a full report in January, but have opted to go ahead and do this now.

I have not misappropriated, misspent, or mishandled a single penny from the Black Lives Matter movement. Period. This is a complete fabrication that was first started by white supremacists and ultra conservatives soon after Mike Brown was murdered. It has since been picked up by other outlets who will do anything for clicks and eyeballs and refuse to actually investigate the truth.

The video below is conservative superhero Glenn Beck from a year ago. Even back then they were attacking my fundraising for the families because they knew how effective it was. Here, Glenn Beck is already advancing the lie that families we raised funds for were being duped by our efforts — in spite of the fact that no family in this movement has ever said such a thing.

Watch what they say here:

When they saw that this line of attack was effective and that people were willing to believe it, they haven’t let up since.

Below is a full accounting of every single dollar I’ve raised since the week Mike Brown was murdered. On some of these I was the primary promoter and on others I was secondary, or even just played a small role.

Since August of 2014, I’ve raised or helped raise: $732,181.83.

It’s worth noting that George Zimmerman and Darren Wilson raised over $1,000,000 online with minimal effort and little scrutiny.

In partnership with Attorney Ben Crump, who represented each of the following families affected by police violence, we raised funds to provide immediate financial assistance to the families (or survivors if they lived).

Mind you, when I say I “raised funds” what I am saying here is that I served as a promoter of online fundraisers that were managed and supervised by other people.

Attorney Benjamin Crump, Attorney Walter Madison, and Adner Marcelin have confirmed this privately and publicly over and over and over again.

For questions about the following fundraisers, please contact Adner Marcelin from the Parks/Crump law office @ adnermarcelin@parkscrump.com.

The following is a direct quote from the Law Offices of Parks & Crump:

As to the following fundraisers listed below, we can confirm that Shaun King never had access to these funds at any time. The funds reported below were transferred directly into our client’s accounts through probate courts, or through accounts set up by each of the client’s listed below. Specifically, Shaun helped these families by spreading their stories on his platform (on his own accord), to which a significant amount of contributions came in.

The families and our firm remains appreciative of his generous efforts. We hope this helps clarify things concerning the clients we represent.

Mike Brown: $280,000

Tamir Rice 1: $60,000

Tamir Rice Amazon Wish List: $5,000

Tamir Rice 2: $30,000

Monroe Bird: $35,100

Corey Jones: $10,520

At no time did I ever have access to any of these funds. I never received a single dime as compensation for raising the funds and never expected anything in return. I pushed hard for each of these families so that they could have some tangible relief during the most difficult time of their lives.

Mike Brown: $280,000

I did not set up this fundraiser or ever have access to these funds. I did not have usernames or passwords for this fundraiser. I did not have access to the bank accounts attached to it. I was simply a promoter of the fundraiser and advocate for this family and their efforts. I was not compensated in any way for it.

This was the first time I helped raise funds for anyone during the Black Lives Matter movement. At the time, I hardly knew who was who, but thousands of us gave and promoted this fundraiser very aggressively with the hope that it would help Mike Brown’s family in the wake of losing their son to police violence.

For questions about the following fundraiser, please contact Adner Marcelin from the Parks/Crump law office @ adnermarcelin@parkscrump.com.

First Fundraiser for the family of Tamir Rice: $60,000

(It has been erroneously reported over and over again that we did this fundraiser without permission from the family. Tamir Rice’s uncle, who I was told was speaking for the family in the week after his death, specifically told activist Tory Russell (from Hands Up United) and I that the family needed help and that we had his full permission to do this fundraiser. Attorney Crump confirmed here that all of the funds were given to the family.

I never had access to these funds for a single moment. I did not have access to the bank accounts attached to it. I was not compensated in any way for it.

Here, a man asked Attorney Crump if the fundraiser that was set up was legitimate, and he confirmed that it was. It didn’t matter, though, the story that it wasn’t continues anyway. The facts clearly don’t matter here.

Amazon Wish List for Family of Tamir Rice: $5,000

For questions about the following fundraiser, please contact Cleveland attorney Walter Madison @: walter@waltermadison.com

Activist Feminista Jones, in partnership with Cleveland attorney Walter Madison, set up an Amazon Wish List for the Rice family. We pushed hard until every single item was purchased off of the wish list. Even then, people were saying that we were having the items sent to our own homes. I did not set up this campaign or ever have access to this Amazon account. I did not have usernames or passwords for this campaign. I was not compensated in any way for it.

Here is Samaria Rice (Tamir’s mother) thanking us for our efforts.

Second Fundraiser for Family of Tamir Rice: $30,000

For questions about the following fundraiser, please contact Adner Marcelin from the Parks/Crump law office @ adnermarcelin@parkscrump.com.

A new fundraiser was set up for the Rice family. I did not set it up, have access to it, or to the funds, but hundreds of people began tweeting and questioning why I was stealing money from the Rice family — even finding ways to harass Tamir’s mother about it. Attorney Crump was then forced to write this tweet to confirm that it was legit. By this point, the lies were steady and ridiculous. The family received these funds and have used them to move into a new home and support their advocacy efforts.

Monroe Bird: $35,100

For questions about the following fundraiser or statements from the family, please contact Adner Marcelin from the Parks/Crump law office @ adnermarcelin@parkscrump.com.

Monroe Bird, who was a great kid and was breaking no laws, was shot from behind in his own neighborhood by a security guard. It paralyzed Monroe and his insurance company refused to pay for his medical care. Forced to bring him home, we raised money for a bed and other medical care for him. His family received every single dollar that was raised. Unfortunately, Monroe died a month later, in great part because he was denied the proper rehab he deserved.

I did not set up this fundraiser or ever have access to these funds. I did not have usernames or passwords for this fundraiser. I did not have access to the bank accounts attached to it. I was simply a promoter of the fundraiser and advocate for this family and their efforts. I was not compensated in any way for it.

Corey Jones: $10,520

For questions about the following fundraiser or statements from the family, please contact Adner Marcelin from the Parks/Crump law office @ adnermarcelin@parkscrump.com.

Corey, as you may remember, was a church musician who was shot and killed by police on the side of a Florida highway when his car broke down. We raised funds to support his funeral and other expenses.

I did not set up this fundraiser or ever have access to these funds. I did not have usernames or passwords for this fundraiser. I did not have access to the bank accounts attached to it. I was simply a promoter of the fundraiser and advocate for this family and their efforts. I was not compensated in any way for it.

Radazz Hearns: $11,853

For questions about the following fundraiser or statements from the family, please contact attorney Sam Anyan @: anyans@wnwlaw.com

Attorney Sam Anyan is a great man and attorney who stepped up to represent 14 year old Radazz Hearns who was shot 7 times by police in New Jersey. Forced to recover at home, his family needed basic help for him to be comfortable so his attorney started this GoFundMe and we pushed it hard.

Here is a statement from Attorney Sam Anyan:

In regards to Radazz Hearns, Mr. King reached out to us to find out how he could help. He retweeted a link to a GoFundMe account that was set up by the family to help pay for medical expenses. Mr. King never had access to the funds.

I did not set up this fundraiser or ever have access to these funds. I did not have usernames or passwords for this fundraiser. I did not have access to the bank accounts attached to it. I was simply a promoter of the fundraiser and advocate for this family and their efforts. I was not compensated in any way for it.