The conservative website Breitbart is accusing Shaun King - a highly followed blogger and avid supporter of the #BlackLivesMatter movement - of lying about his race in the manner of Rachel Dolezal.
Blogger Vicki Pate originally posted a link to King's supposed birth certificate on her site's Photobucket page, Re-NewsIt. The document she purported to be his birth certificate lists King's birth father as white - conflicting with his assertions that his birth father was black.
Photobucket has removed the certificate from its website for violating its Terms of Use. However, Breitbart News Network obtained a document it says is a police incident report that lists King's father's race as white.
Breitbart
Shaun King's father's arrest record is circulating showing that King's father was white.
With over 171 thousand followers on twitter, King, who identifies as biracial, predominately tweets about police brutality, racism, and social activism in the black community. But after the story of his racial identity went viral, King decided to use his platform Wednesday to shut down criticisms, including a report in The Blaze suggesting he lied about being the victim of a mob assault.
1. On August 28th, I'm launching @JusticeTogether to fight for the end of police brutality in America. That's NINE DAYS away. Follow me...
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 20152. Two days ago, @GlennBeck & @TheBlaze released this hit piece on me. http://t.co/MlGhHftVSN All lies. Every bit of it.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 20153. In March of 1995, I was brutally assaulted by a racist mob of rednecks at my school. Guess what, they denied it.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 20154. Seeing that @GlennBeck was willing to produce lies about me, a student who witnessed the who thing wrote this https://t.co/CUYMmAhSlN
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 20155. It's also important that you see this ---> https://t.co/YpdV7j3ANp Because other people who REALLY saw it commented on it there.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 20156. Smelling blood in the water, @dailycaller and @TuckerCarlson wrote this piece about me. All lies. http://t.co/UxKeYasNif
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 20157. So, when this was written ---> https://t.co/YpdV7j3ANp showing the truth of what happened, I thought it was all over. It was to me.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 20158. Notice, even though a credible, reliable unbiased eyewitness AND TEACHER refuted @glennbeck they don't retract https://t.co/YpdV7j3ANp
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 20159. Now, here is where it gets full-fledged white supremacist conspiracy theory crazy. It's wild.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201510. But, having no journalistic standards at all, Breitbart decided to use a known white supremacist as their main source of info on ME.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201511. You need to know this name. VICKI PATE You won't find her on Twitter. PERMANENTLY BANNED for racist harassment pic.twitter.com/h7K3yLz5Wj
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201512. Here is Vicki Pate's website where, for a living, she harasses the families of black folk killed by police. http://t.co/Z6MQ8xLAUD
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201513. So, this woman literally stalks my children. Speaks of them by first name on her blog, studies their medical history, etc.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201514. Here's the Brietbart article. Let's take it apart piece by piece. I found at least 17 lies in there. http://t.co/4jHrHlullJ
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201515. First, Breitbart has 3 main sources. Vicki Pate (a known white supremacist) and @TheBlaze & @TheDailyCaller (who we already refuted).
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201516. Breitbart claims I was never in a car accident. That's me. That's the car. The story: http://t.co/iwTPbUKPHH pic.twitter.com/Bj3SBDLWYf
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201517. Breitbart, simultaneously disputes I ever had spinal surgeries from being assaulted, then says I lie about how many I had, 3 or 4.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201518. I've had 3 major spinal surgeries b/c of the assault. @DeacTheVillain was my best friend through 'em all. More surgeries since then.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201519. Breitbart says I've flat out lied about how many kids @raitking and I actually are the parents of. Today, the number is 5.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201520. My wife & I have 3 birth children, we fully adopted our niece in '03, she's 15 now, + we have custody of our 2 y/o niece, Zayah.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201521. In addition to the 5 kids we have now, we've also had full custody, at one time or another, of 4 other nieces/nephews of ours.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201522. Every mentor and coach and advisor I have, without fail, has told me NOT to respond to any of this. For weeks I've ignored it all.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201523. In essence, what is happening to me now, is like conservatives demanding Obama's long form birth certificate. It's all BULLSHIT.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201524. Out of respect for my dear mother, my siblings, and my extended family who've loved me through it all, I've just kept on working.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201525. First off, the key facts about my biological relatives are all wrong. They tried, but my family, like many of yours, is one big mess.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201526. Like many of you, I have siblings I don't know, siblings I'm estranged from, and a family full of secrets, divorce, affairs, etc.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201527. No 2 siblings in my family have the same set of parents. We're all over the place. Some of us are not even blood relatives.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201528. Some of the problem here, is that MOST of you (friend & foe alike) have only known me since the day Mike Brown was killed.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201529. If you have known me from when I was in elementary school at Huntertown Elementary until now, you've known me as black or bi-racial.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201530. I did not concoct a lie about my race to get into @Morehouse. I did not concoct a lie about my race to get an @Oprah scholarship.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 201531. Every single person who knows me BEYOND Twitter, beyond trending topics and HIT PIECES, knows I have never lied about my race.
- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 19, 2015King has not yet responded for Business Insider's request for a statement.
Breitbart claimed King falsely claimed to be biracial to qualify for one of Oprah Winfrey's scholarships. Morehouse College, the historically black institution that King attended, tweeted Wednesday that race does not influence its decisions to award scholarships.
"#Morehouse has no comment on the @Shaunking allegations," Morehouse College tweeted. "However @Morehouse does not grant admissions or scholarships based on race."
King's wife Rai King also wrote a lengthy Facebook post discrediting Breitbart and critics of her husband's racial identity.
"I won't distract from the very important work he does by rebutting all the ridiculous lies currently circling about him," said King's wife Rai King. "Shaun is a flawed and imperfect man. He has made many mistakes. Just like me and just like you. But regarding his race, he has never lied."
Many of King's supporters also used Twitter to voice their outrage for the media's focus on his race in the wake of racial tensions.
"@ShaunKing keep your head up Shaun!" actress Regina King tweeted. "Stay focused #JusticeTogether…not apart. That's the goal."
"I hope he continues to let the talking heads talk while he does the real work of holding judicial systems accountable for the 742 women and men they've gunned down this year alone," King's wife wrote.