BLM's Shaun King, Accused of Shady Charity Dealings, Moves Into 5-Bedroom Lakefront Home

American Civil rights activist Shaun King, who is famous for his advocacy of the poor and disenfranchised, has been revealed to be living in a luxury five-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot New Jersey lakefront house.

$842,000 Five-bedroom Lakefront Home in New Jersey

King, a BLM activist, moved earlier this year from a luxury two-bedroom apartment in downtown Brooklyn to the five-bedroom, 3,000 sqft North Brunswick, NJ, property, with "a lakefront backyard" and gourmet kitchen, according to public records.

According to the New York Post, "the property, surrounded by lush, tall trees, was purchased by King's wife, Rai-Tonicia King, a Ph.D. candidate and educator, in November 2020 for $842,000."

The Daily Mail reported that the $842,000 house is 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.

Controversies Surrounding King

King, 41, has become a controversial figure in the Black Lives Matter and criminal justice reform movements after his racial identity was questioned. King's career has also been plagued by accusations of insincere motives and deception from his shady dealings.

Mother of Tamir Rice Accused King of 'Profiting Off Her Son's Death'

Samaria Rice, the mother of the deceased Tamir Rice who was shot and killed by Cleveland police, has publicly criticized King for soliciting funds using Tamir's name without even asking her first. She accused the activist of 'profiting off her son's death' and called him an 'imposter' and a 'white man'.

King had previously raised $60,000 following Tamir's death, but the family said they were unaware of any fundraiser. "You are a selfish self-centered person and God will deal with you," commented Rice on social media.

King Abruptly Closed the 'Justice Together' Coalition

King has been accused of raising funds for causes that were never received by those he was fundraising for, including at Justice Together after King abruptly closed the organization. He launched the organization to help raise awareness of police brutality and support Black Lives Matter in 2015.

He faced criticism from ex-members of his short-lived "Justice Together Coalition," which he launched and abandoned within the same year in 2015. Many of the former members wrote an open letter on Medium:

"He silenced dissent without productive discussion, he removed volunteers for speaking up due to his self-proclaimed paranoia, he repeatedly failed to meet his own timelines for his participation in the work, and he failed to delegate or discuss internally anything of consequence with the organization," said the letter.

Mixed Twitter Reactions

As soon as the news of King's lavish house started to trend, social media witnessed mixed reactions. Some criticized King for his insincere motives and deception while others felt that it's not a crime if activists are rich.

One Twitter user wrote: "There's been regular complaints about how Shaun gets his money, essentially calling him a grifter who takes advantage of the harm done to Black people to personally profit off of it".

Another Twitter user wrote, "Advocacy and compassion for the poor and underprivileged bears zero relevance to the size of one's home or what kind of lifestyle they can afford. There are many many wealthy philanthropists and activists all over the world."

Talcum X was also trending on Twitter. It's a nickname given to Shaun King, primarily due to the fact that he will go at great lengths to prove that he is not completely white.