BLM Leader Shaun King Moves into Luxury Lakefront Mansion - Questions Raised
Controversial Black Lives Matter activist accused of profiting from racial issues
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Controversial Black Lives Matter leader Shaun King has moved into a luxury five-bedroom mansion on a New Jersey lakefront, prompting more questions about his shady fundraising.
41-year-old King, 41, has become a controversial figure in the BLM and criminal justice reform movements after his racial identity and motivations were questioned.
King's career has been plagued by accusations of insincere motives and deception from his dealings that allegedly "profiting" from the prominent deaths of black people.
Records show the new property was purchased in the name of King's wife, Rai-Tonicia King, and was bought in November 2020 for $842,000.
The lavish home is surrounded by lush, tall trees sitting on Farrington Lake and it has "a lakefront backyard" and gourmet kitchen, according to public records.
Last year, Rai-Tonicia founded Hands In Learning - an "education nonprofit providing high quality, virtual academic and enrichment classes for students all across the world regardless of their ability to pay."
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The $842,000 house is way above the average $217,500 home value in New Brunswick.
The town of 41,431 is 45% White, 24% Asian, 20% Black, and 19% Hispanic with much smaller percentages of other races, according to Census data.
King has been criticized for being an outspoken leader in the Black Lives Matter movement, even by some on the left who have questioned the lack of transparency in some of his fundraising efforts.
In June the mother of Tamir Rice excoriated King in an Instagram post where she accused him of trying to fundraise from the death of her son, who was killed by a police officer in 2014.
"Why do you think it's so important to tell folks we had a conversation?" wrote Samaria Rice in the public post.
"Well we talked and everything that was said was very toxic and uncomfortable for me to hear that you raised additional money and then say you did not want to bother me," she added.
"Personally I don't understand how you sleep at night.
"Along with the united states, you robbed me for the death of my son."
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In 2020 a report by the Washington Free Beacon found that the political action committee co-founded by King was funneling much of their funds to for-profit companies linked to the leaders of the organization.
King has also been mocked over his racial identity after some accused him of faking black ancestry.
He maintains that he is biracial and that despite his birth certificate documenting his parents as white, he maintains that his father was a black man.
However, back in 2015, a family member confirmed in an interview that both of King's parents are white.
CNN's Don Lemon spoke with an unidentified member of Shaun King's family who said that King was born to white parents.
Lemon also spoke to King himself over text message and asked him directly about his race.
"Initially, he did not answer but later referred to himself as biracial," said Lemon.
"But then when I asked him if that’s what it shows on his birth certificate I did not hear back from him.
"No answer on that."
"[Y]ou are a selfish self centered person and God will deal with you, White man," retorted Samaria Rice.
