Shaun King and Lee Merritt/Photo courtesy of Black Enterprise
Shaun King has begun what some are calling a new grift. After various media outlets reported that he, his wife Rai King, and their children lived in a large New Jersey estate, King claimed that he and his family are no longer safe. He is moving, and his friend, Texas Attorney General hopeful Lee Merritt, is helping him fundraise.
This new hubbub began when Shaun King asked followers to give a small gift to his wife, Rai, who was dealing with some pressures in her schooling.
Shortly after that, he went on a social media hiatus wherein he deleted his social media apps.
Soon after that request, the news broke that King and his family moved
into a New Jersey home that was reported to be valued at over $800K.King defended the purchase and said his wife, a doctoral candidate and educator, bought the home with her own income and credit after saving for several years.
King, who has said in the past that he and his family have had safety concerns has now claimed that because his home was publicized by the media, he and his family will be moving from the home they’ve only lived in for several weeks.
“Strangers have already started coming by the house. My kids can’t even go outside and play during the final month of summer break. So, we’re moving,” King wrote on an IG post. He accompanied his words with a graphic that read, “I am equal parts heartbroken and furious.”
Noted civil rights attorney and Texas Attorney General candidate, Lee Merritt, decided to return the favor of King breaking his social media hiatus to endorse and fundraise for him by asking his own followers to donate to Shaun and Rai King in their search for new shelter.
“My good friends @shaunking and @mrsraiking are being forced to move from their home after national media publications printed their home address claiming they lived in a house too lavish for their incomes,” Merritt wrote.
Merritt, who has himself had to battle claims of grift behavior, continued by saying that Shaun King is a leading movement journalist and Rai is a professional who bought the home after years of saving. He also said that security professionals advised them to move after the address appeared in the press.
The irony is that King is “asking” for donations to buy another home when it’s a seller’s market. According to NorthJersey.com, the housing market is soaring despite the pandemic. If King put the home on the market, he’d more than likely sell the house for more than what it’s worth. Apparently, he hadn’t thought about that before begging for funds.
Also, with a house of that value and King’s alleged threats on his life before– he didn’t invest in security cameras or bodyguards? Hmm…
There has been no prosecutable evidence that Shaun King is a part of a perpetual gift to date. With that said, constantly being associated with fundraising is proving to do himself and his family more harm than good.