Far-left activist and one-time Christian pastor Shaun King has been banned from a Ramadan event after launching a speaking tour a day after converting to Islam in ‘solidarity’ with the people of Gaza.
King had been booked to speak at a fundraising dinner in Minneapolis this coming Sunday for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The 44-year-old has been outspoken in his stance against Israel and claimed he was Banned from Instagram over his pro-Palestine posts.
After the Minnesota CAIR chapter announced that King would be speaking at the event Thursday, they suffered an immediate backlash from social media users.
Eight hours later, the department announced they had made the decision not to have King as the keynote speaker after they ‘heard concerns expressed’.
The 44-year-old has been outspoken about his anti-Israel stance, claiming he was banned from Instagram because of his pro-Palestine posts
King had been booked to speak at a fundraising dinner in Minneapolis this coming Sunday for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
In a statement, the branch said: ‘We have heard concerns expressed by our community regarding Shaun King headlining your annual iftar fundraiser.
‘We have made the decision not to have Shaun King as the keynote speaker at our upcoming annual fundraising dinner.
‘This has become a distraction from the sole purpose of our event, to support the work of protecting and promoting the civil liberties of Muslims in Minnesota.’
One user lashed out at King and the organization, saying: ‘Don’t let CAIR be tainted by association with this grifter.’
Another wrote: ‘People familiar with his history know he is a prolific con artist. I wouldn’t associate with him, especially for any fundraiser.’
One user added: ‘Why are you hiding people’s tweets instead of addressing them and the fact that you booked a well known grifter for this event?’
The controversial Black Lives Matter activist once pastored Courageous Church in Atlanta from 2008 to 2011, according to BuzzFeed.
After he and his wife converted to Islam ‘in solidarity’ with Palestine, critics accused him of using the religion as a form of mourning.
Less than a day after the conversion, he announced a multi-city speaking tour complete with $1,000 VIP tickets.
After the Minnesota CAIR chapter announced that King would speak at the event Thursday, they suffered immediate backlash from social media users
Eight hours later, the branch announced they had made the decision not to have King as keynote speaker after they ‘heard concerns expressed’
Prices for one of the events in San Diego start at $75 for general admission, followed by VIP for $200, and then a VIP+ priced at an eye-watering $1,000.
He said the proceeds would all be donated to Palestinian causes.
King shared a video on Facebook of him and his wife taking the shahada and professing their faith at the start of Ramadan two weeks ago.
In a post, he wrote: ‘My heart is with my dear friends in Gaza and I am proud that we were able to provide meals tonight to thousands and thousands of families from north to south in Gaza and will do that every day of Ramadan.
The activist, known as one of the loudest voices behind the Black Lives Matter movement, had 5.6 million followers on Instagram, where he fiercely criticized Israel and the United States after the October 7 terrorist attacks on the Jewish nation.
He has repeatedly framed the resulting war as a genocide against Palestinians by Israel funded by the United States government.
King was also previously accused of lying by the family of two American hostages he claimed he helped free from Hamas.
He claimed he helped free Natalie Shoshana Raanan, 17, and her mother Judith Tai Raanan, 59, who were two of more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas after their attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis on October 7.
King shared a video on Facebook of him and his wife taking the shahada and professing their faith at the Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving, Texas
King said that ‘dozens of us’ were working for their liberation and that the Raanan family ‘have been my supporters and protested police brutality in America with us.’
But the family say King is lying and he did nothing to help the two women to their freedom, saying in a statement that: ‘First and foremost, we make it clear that he is lying!’
“Our family does not and did not have anything to do with him, directly or indirectly,” they told TMZ. ‘Not to him and not to anything he claims to represent.’
Uri Raanan, Natalie’s father, later told The Daily Beast that his son had contacted King but still had nothing to do with the publication.
‘We reached out to many people far and wide to get Natalie and Judith to safety. We are not affiliated with Mr. King,’ he said. ‘Ben, my son spoke to him without anyone in the family knowing until today.’
“Our family in Israel issued this statement denying that we knew him until we heard about Ben talking to him,” Raanan added. “We have nothing more to say.”
The activist is known as one of the loudest voices behind the Black Lives Matter movement
He claimed he helped free Natalie Shoshana Raanan, 17, and her mother Judith Tai Raanan, 59, who were two of over 200 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7
King claimed in a statement that he was telling the truth, but did not specify that he spoke to anyone other than Raanan’s son.
He has also been accused of fraud on various occasions, including by the mother of Tamir Rice — a 12-year-old Ohio boy killed by Cleveland police — who claims he held unauthorized fundraisers in her son’s name.
King has battled fraud allegations for years, but has not been formally charged with any wrongdoing in connection with Grassroots, which he founded to help get progressives elected to office.
Most infamously, he was accused of lying about being the victim of a horrific hate crime in his youth as a result of his race, which he allegedly falsified his race to benefit from an Oprah Winfrey scholarship.