Regulator Sues Anti-Police Activist Who Spent Charity Funds on Himself
The District of Columbia’s attorney general on Monday sued an activist known for his calls to abolish the police, saying that he diverted $75,000 from a charity to pay for mansion rentals, a trip to Cancún and designer clothes.Attorney General Brian L.Schwalb, an elected Democrat who oversees nonprofits in the city, said Brandon Anderson had turned an anti-police-brutality charity called Raheem AI into a piggy bank for himself.Mr.
Schwalb also sued Raheem AI.He asked a judge to shutter the organization, bar Mr.
Anderson from leading any other Washington nonprofit and order Mr.Anderson or Raheem AI to repay the $75,000.
The money would then be given to a charity chosen by the judge.“Brandon Anderson misused charitable donations to fund lavish vacations and shopping sprees, and the Raheem AI board of directors let him get away with it,” Mr.Schwalb said in a written statement.
He continued, “My office will not allow people to masquerade behind noble causes while violating the law."Mr.Schwalb has jurisdiction in the case because Raheem AI was incorporated in Washington.
A spokesman for him declined to say what prompted the investigation.A former staff member at the nonprofit named Jasmine Banks told The New York Times this year that she had reached out to Mr.
Schwalb’s office, seeking help after the nonprofit stopped paying her salary.Mr.Anderson did not respond to a request for comment sent on Monday morning.
He has previously told The Times that he takes responsibility for the group’s failures: “The bottom line is simply that it didn’t work, and as the leader of that effort I share most of the blame.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Wan...