Activist Shaun King has been getting hit hard on social media after he threatened to sue another activist, Clarissa Brooks, for allegedly lying about him on Twitter. Bare with us as we try to follow this, because it plays out like a soap opera.
Brooks tweeted on Jan. 7, “Are folks going to hold Shaun King accountable to money he ‘raised’ for Cyntoia? Or is that going to disappear as well…” Reportedly, King never raised money for Cyntoia Brown. And Brooks deleted the tweet after she read King was suing people for tweeting about him. However, on Wednesday (Jan. 17), she received an email from King, which included his attorneys Benjamin Crump and Lee Merritt that threatened legal action if she didn’t apologize publicly and respond to “King’s satisfaction,” according to Brooks.
In addition, yesterday, King revealed that with the help of Crump and Merritt, he is suing people — including Clarissa Brooks — who allegedly spread lies about him. He wrote, “Talk shit. Crack jokes. Critique me. But when you post fabricated claims like this, you are in clear violation of the law. And we are fighting back.”
See the tweet that Brooks allegedly deleted:
Clarissa Brooks then wrote a lengthy statement on Twitter defending herself. See below:
She also wrote, “I did not retract my statement and will not be releasing a public apology.”
Now, King is being hit hard by some people on Twitter who do not understand why he would sue a Black woman considering all of the attacks he has received from white supremacists. Plus, there have been many questions about King’s handling of money in the past. User @knowyourIX wrote, “Shaun King is encouraging harassment of a young Black queer woman and member of our survivor family @ClarissaMBrooks. He has threatened to sue her if she didn’t respond to his liking for questioning his transparency. Now he is inciting violence against her.”
On the other hand, some people are defending King because he was allegedly defending himself. User @kaycola wrote, “So now because @shaunking blasted someone for posting something false about him he’s considered a bully? So if he didn’t have the following he had is it still bullying? Cmon y’all. I’m pro women & pro black but this is RIDICULOUS!!!! He has a right to sue & defend himself! Period.”
Wow. Sounds like everyone needs to just get off Twitter.
Nonetheless, King is getting hit hard. See the reactions below: