Oklahoma Black Lives Matter leader indicted for fraud, money laundering

By SEAN MURPHY OKLAHOMA CITY AP A federal grand jury indicted the leader of the Black Lives Matter movement in Oklahoma City over charges that millions of dollars in grant funds were improperly spent on international trips groceries and personal real estate prosecutors broadcasted Thursday Related Articles Director convicted of scamming M from Netflix and going on lavish spending spree What are the largest US lottery jackpots ever won Crypto mogul Do Kwon sentenced to years in prison for billion stablecoin fraud A meeting meant to launch FEMA reforms is abruptly canceled After Airbus issue DOT says airlines don t have to cover patron expenses amid aircraft recalls Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson was indicted earlier this month on counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering court records show Court records do not indicate the name of Dickerson s attorney and messages left Thursday at her mobile number and by email were not without delay returned According to the indictment Dickerson served since at least as the executive director of Black Lives Matter OKC which accepted charitable donations through its affiliation with the Arizona-based Alliance for Global Justice In total BLM OKC raised more than million dating back to largely from online donors and national bail funds that were supposed to be used to post bail for individuals arrested in connection with racial justice protests after the killing of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer in the indictment alleges When those bail funds were returned to BLM OKC the indictment alleges Dickerson embezzled at least million into her personal accounts and then used the money to pay for trips to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic retail shopping at least in food and grocery deliveries for herself and her children a personal automobile and six properties in Oklahoma City deeded to her or to a company she controlled The indictment also alleges she submitted false annual reports to the alliance stating that the funds were used only for tax-exempt purposes If convicted Dickerson faces up to years in federal prison and a fine of up to for each count of wire fraud and years in prison and fines for each count of money laundering In a live video posted on her Facebook page Thursday afternoon Dickerson stated she was not in custody and was fine I cannot make an official comment about what transpired in the modern day she noted I am home I am safe I have confidence in our band A lot of times when people come at you with these types of things it s evidence that you are doing the work she continued That is what I m standing on The Black Lives Matter movement first emerged in after the acquittal of George Zimmerman the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed -year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida But it was the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson Missouri that made the slogan Black lives matter a rallying cry for progressives and a favorite target of derision for conservatives The Associated Press communicated in October that the Justice Department was inspecting whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars during racial justice protests in There was no immediate indication that Dickerson s indictment is connected to that probe