Shaun King fraud controversy explained as BLM activist faces backlash over using donor cash to purchase $40K dog 

Shaun King in 2019 (Image via Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

According to a recent report by the conservative publication Washington Free Beacon, controversial Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King’s political action committee reportedly spent donor cash to purchase a $40,000 dog. The amount is reported to have been paid to a dog breeder in California.

These allegations come months after King took to his Facebook to announce the arrival of the Mastiff dog named Marz. The post has since been removed as the dog was reportedly returned to the breeder.

King’s post at the time referred to the dog as a “new member of the King family.” He had also announced how Marz would also serve as a guard dog to his family.

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What are the allegations over Shaun King’s purchase of his former dog?

The Federal Election Commission records of the payment (Image via FEC)

In the report by The Washington Free Beacon, the conservative publication alleged that Shaun King’s Grassroots Law PAC paid over $40,000 to the California-based breeder Potrero Performance Dogs since last year.

According to the Federal Election Commission Records, the PAC made the first payment in early December as a “contractor deposit,” which amounted to $10,000. The second payment of around $30,650 was completed in February, as per the records.

Earlier this month, an Instagram post from Potrero Performance Dogs stated that Marz had been returned for having too much energy as a family dog. However, the post has since been made private along with the account or possibly deleted. As of now, it is not known if the PAC received any refund after the dog’s return.

No additional details are known about whether Shaun King later reimbursed the alleged expenditure of the money from the PAC. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist had raised over $34.5 million by 2019 since the BLM movement began.

This is not the first time King has faced such allegations of fraudulent activities regarding his fundraisers through the Grassroots Law PAC, which he co-founded with Lee Merritt.

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Netizens react to allegations against Shaun King over usage of PAC donor funds to purchase a $40,000 dog

Following reports of these allegations, several Twitter users warned people against donating to Shaun King’s PAC. Meanwhile, a few tweets further alleged that King could have doctored the $40,000+ cost of the dog to get the money.

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Shaun King has addressed similar allegations against him in the past

King addressed these previous allegations in 2020 through his guest post on The North Star. In the article, he mentioned:

“ I am literally the only person on the staff who does not get paid. I’ve never been paid for it. We have raised over $1 million this past year and I have not received a salary or a stipend of any kind for the entire year.”

The 42-year-old Kentucky native further added:

“You can check the FEC reports. Again, our staff regularly tells me how embarrassed they are by this, but we do it so that the integrity of our work can never be questioned and nobody can ever say that I am doing this work for personal gain. I am often the first staffer up and the last staffer to leave, but I do it all for free.”

However, The Washington Free Beacon has claimed that King’s Grassroots Law PAC has paid “around $56,000 to political candidates since 2021.” Meanwhile, many online responses have pointed out that the payment for the dog was over $ 40,000.

As of now, neither Grassroots Law PAC, Shaun King, nor Potrero Performance Dogs has made any public statement addressing the controversy.