KEY POINTS

  • Shaun King is fighting donor fund scam accusations yet again
  • King's PAC reportedly shelled out $40K for the activist's guard dog 
  • The dog was returned months later for having "too much energy"

Controversial Black Lives Matter leader Shaun King is hounded by yet another controversy over donor funds. A report Monday stated his political action committee (PAC) paid a little over $40K for a guard dog, only for King to return the mastiff months later for having "too much energy."

King's Grassroots Law PAC made two payments to California-based breeding program Potrero Performance Dogs which specializes in Cane Corsos, worth $10k and $30.6k between December 2021 and February 2022.

The payments are categorized as "contractor deposit," according to Federal Election Commission records, NYPost reported.

While these funds weren't directly recognized as payments for the dog, King had announced on Instagram he had added a furry member named Marz to his family within days of the last payment. The post is no longer publicly available, and it's being reported that King has returned Marz to the breeder.

In July, Marz was photographed at an American Kennel Club competition where it won the "Best In Show" award, according to Potrero's Instagram account which has now been made private. In another July post, the breeder confirmed that the dog has been returned to him.

"He's got a little too much energy to be a family dog so he came back," the post said, according to Free Beacon. International Business Times cannot independently verify this report. Free Beacon reached out to Potrero, Grassroots Law, and King's media company for a comment.

The 42-year-old activist has fought scam allegations ever since his association with BLM. Earlier this year, his private clothing brand, A Real One, was accused of duping its customers by not processing prepaid orders.

King brushed off these accusations saying they had shipped all orders and were offering refunds and replacements in case of any grievances.

In 2018, King received massive funding in his bid to recreate abolitionist Frederick Douglass' newspaper as The North Star. His media company's website had promised to establish multiple studios and "hiring nearly 50 world class journalists" but none of the promises were reportedly fulfilled.

Two years later, he again asked for funds for a "daily video news broadcast" which was already promised under The North Star and had already supposedly raised funds. The failed publication's former editor-in-chief Keisha Blain wrote about King in a tweet, "So many people warned me about him and I didn’t listen."

King had denied the resurfaced allegations against him about fund handling saying he has "never received, held, touched, managed, or even had access to any money I’ve ever raised."

The activist has also been blasted by the mother of a Black minor victim of police brutality, Tamir Rice, for using her son's death to raise additional funds.

"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. Personally I don’t understand how you sleep at night," she wrote in an Instagram post.

"I never gave you permission to raise nothing," Rice continued in the now-deleted post. "Along with the united states, you robbed me for the death of my son."

A demonstrator holding a 'Black Lives Matter' sign is seen taking part in an anti-racism protest in Boston, Massachusetts on May 29, 2020
A demonstrator holding a 'Black Lives Matter' sign is seen taking part in an anti-racism protest in Boston, Massachusetts on May 29, 2020 AFP / Joseph Prezioso