oklahoma city– Leader was indicted by a federal grand jury Black Lives Matter movement Prosecutors in Oklahoma City on Thursday announced allegations that millions of dollars in grant money was improperly spent on international travel, groceries and personal real estate.
Court records show Tashila Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52, was charged earlier this month with 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering.
Court records do not list the name of Dickerson’s attorney, and messages left Thursday at her cell phone number or via email were not immediately responded to.
According to the indictment, Dickerson has served since at least 2016 as 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 has raised more than $5.6 million dating back to 2020, largely from online donors and national bail funds that were supposed to be used to pay bail for individuals arrested in connection with post-election racial justice protests. The killing of George Floyd By a Minnesota police officer in 2020, the indictment alleges.
When the bail money was returned to BLM OKC, the indictment alleges that Dickerson embezzled at least $3.15 million in her personal accounts and then used the money to pay for trips to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, retail shopping, at least $50,000 in food and grocery deliveries for herself and her children, a personal vehicle, and six properties in Oklahoma City owned by her or a company she controlled.
The indictment also alleges that she submitted false annual reports to the coalition stating that the funds were used solely for tax-exempt purposes.
If convicted, Dickerson faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each wire fraud count and 10 years in prison and fines for each money laundering count.
In a live video she posted on her Facebook page Thursday afternoon, Dickerson said she was not in detention and was “fine.”
“I cannot make an official comment about what happened today,” she said. “I’m home. I’m safe. I have confidence in our team.”
“A lot of times when people attack you with these types of things… it’s proof that you’re doing the work,” she continued. “And that’s where I stand.”
The Black Lives Matter movement first emerged in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who killed a 17-year-old. Trayvon Martin In Florida. But that was in 2014 Death of Michael Brown At the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, making “Black Lives Matter” a rallying cry for progressives and a favorite target of ridicule for conservatives.
Associated Press Reported in October That the Justice Department was investigating whether leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars during racial justice protests in 2020. There was no immediate indication that Dickerson’s indictment was connected to that investigation.