Addressing King, Rice wrote in a Tuesday Instagram post, “Why do you think its so important to tell folks we had a conversation?”
“Well we talked and everything that was said was very toxic and uncomfortable for me to hear that you raised additional money and then say you did not want… to bother me,” she continued. “Personally I don’t understand how you sleep at night. I never gave you permission to raise nothing. [A]long with the united states, you robbed me for the death of my son.”
Rice’s 12-year-old son Tamir was shot and killed by a white police officer in Cleveland, Ohio on November 22, 2014. His death received both national coverage and occurred on the heels of other high-profile police shootings of Black Americans.
Rice’s remarks about King were in reference to a recent podcast episode King posted on his website Tuesday titled “Ep. 469 - I spoke to Samaria Rice this past week.” The episode seems to have since been deleted and is not listed among other episodes of “Breakdown with Shaun King,” which are still available.
“It was a much-needed conversation. I learned a lot. Listened a lot. Shared my heart. And pledged we would continue to fight to get justice and accountability for Tamir,” King wrote in the episode’s description.
In another blog post, King described how Rice finally reached out to him recently after many years of knowing about his work.
“Samaria first acknowledged that she was aware that I had reached out to her over the past few months through several different channels. And then she spoke for a good 20 minutes about her pain, her frustrations, her questions, and her struggles,” King wrote. “She acknowledged that she was aware that I had written articles about Tamir across the years and had raised money for her family, but it was in that part of the conversation that I truly came to understand a central mistake that I had made with her.”
“For the past 7 years, I have left Samaria Rice alone,” he added.
He goes on to detail the history of his fundraising efforts for Tamir, alleging that people had lied to Rice about what he has done in the past. He said he apologized to her for “assuming that the people around her were doing right by her.”
“Everything else - every harsh word said about me, every lie spread by people about my work for Samaria, I just have to let go of. For her. And for Tamir,” King concluded.
But Rice disputed King’s account of their previous conversation, writing, “You gave me a cop and donut conversation.”
“All lies Shaun, please stop thinking we on the same page,” she added. “As a white man acting black you are an imposter that can not be trusted. My son was 12 years old and… DOJ needs to reopen his case period. Tamir Human rights was violated, why would you so ever make it about you? you are a selfish self centered person and God will deal with you White man.”
King has stated that he has been told by his mother that “the white man on my birth certificate is not my biological father and that my actual biological father is a light-skinned Black man.”
Rice has become a prominent activist since her son’s death and has previously criticized high-profile social justice activists, calling them “ambulance chasers” and accusing them of exploiting the controversial killings of Black people for financial gain.
Last month, Rice told New York Magazine’s The Cut that she had never spoken to King before.
“I ain’t never talked to Shaun King a day in my life,” Rice said. “Shaun King raised all that money [for Tamir] and sent me a $60,000 check.” She put the money into Tamir’s estate but said she was upset a stranger had used her son’s name without the consent
She has also asked Black Lives Matter groups to stop using her son’s name.
“All of the families should be getting therapy, and all of them should be getting the tools to speak for themselves, not have people speak for them,” Rice said.
She is currently seeking to have Tamir’s case reopened, saying that a conviction would offer healing for their family.
When reached for comment, King’s team referred Newsweek to his original post detailing his conversation with Rice.
