Minnesota’s branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Thursday night it will remove activist Shaun King as its keynote speaker for an upcoming Ramadan fundraiser, hours after backlash over the announcement that King was selected.
CAIR MN removes Shaun King as event keynote speaker following backlash
The decision came seven hours after the activist was announced as the speaker for the fundraiser.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 22, 2024 at 2:58AM
A little before noon, CAIR posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that King would speak at its 17th annual fundraising dinner on Sunday evening at Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota.
The post quickly drew outraged comments on X that were later hidden by the page by making it private, with many comments accusing King of being a scammer.
About seven hours later, CAIR posted an update saying it had canceled King’s appearance after hearing the complaints.
“We have heard concerns expressed — directly and indirectly — by our community regarding Shaun King being the keynote at your annual Iftar fundraiser,” the post read. “We have made the decision to not have Shaun King as the keynote speaker for our annual fundraising dinner.”
The post said the controversy over King became a “distraction from the sole purpose of our event — to support the work of protecting and advancing the civil liberties of Muslims in Minnesota.”
Those who commented on the reversal were mostly pleased about the decision, and some criticized CAIR for describing King in the initial post as a “civil rights icon.”
King rose to prominence in 2014, and was known for his commentary and posts about police brutality and social justice. He has also been seen as a controversial figure and been accused of misappropriating funds intended to be used for Black Lives Matter causes.
Following the killing of Tamir Rice by police in Ohio, King raised $60,000 for Rice’s family, but an attorney for Rice’s family later said they hadn’t received any of the money, and that they had never heard of King or the fundraiser, according to a Washington Post article at the time. The money was later seized by the court and given to Rice’s family.
King did not immediately respond to a request for comment on LinkedIn.
These Minnesotans are poised to play prominent roles in state and national politics in the coming years.
