Shaun King is disinvited from Ramadan event and accused of using Islam as a grift after launching $1,000-a-ticket speaking tour a day after converting 'in solidarity with people of Gaza'

Far-left activist and one-time Christian pastor Shaun King has been disinvited from a Ramadan event after launching a speaking tour a day after converting to Islam in 'solidarity' with the people of Gaza. 

King had been booked to speak at a Minneapolis fundraising dinner this coming Sunday for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The 44-year-old has been outspoken in his stance against Israel and claimed he was banned from Instagram over his pro-Palestine posts.

After the Minnesota CAIR branch announced that King would be speaking at the event on Thursday, they suffered an immediate blowback from social media users. 

Eight hours later, the branch announced that they had made the decision to not have King as the keynote speaker after they 'heard concerns expressed'. 

The 44-year-old has been outspoken in his stance against Israel and claimed he was banned from Instagram over his pro-Palestine posts 

King had been booked to speak at a Minneapolis fundraising dinner this coming Sunday for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

In a statement, the branch said: 'We have heard concerns expressed by our community regarding Shaun King being the keynote at your annual iftar fundraiser. 

'We have made the decision to not have Shaun King as the keynote speaker for our upcoming annual fundraising dinner. 

'This has become a distraction from the sole purpose of our event, to support the work of protecting and advancing the civil liberties of Muslims in Minnesota.'

One user hit out at King and the organization, saying: 'Do not let CAIR be tainted by association with this grifter.'

Another posted: 'People familiar with his history know he's a prolific scam artist. I wouldn't associate with him, especially for any fundraiser.'

One user added: 'Why are you hiding people's tweets instead of addressing them and the fact that you've booked a well known grifter for this event?' 

The controversial Black Lives Matter activist was once the pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta from 2008 to 2011, according to BuzzFeed. 

After him and his wife converted to Islam 'in solidarity' with Palestine, critics accused him of using the religion as a grift. 

Less than a day after converting, he announced a multi-city speaking tour complete with $1,000 VIP tickets. 

After the Minnesota CAIR branch announced that King would be speaking at the event on Thursday, they suffered an immediate blowback from social media users

Eight hours later, the branch announced that they had made the decision to not have King as the keynote speaker after they 'heard concerns expressed'

Pricing for one of the events in San Diego starts at $75 for general admission, followed by VIP for $200, and then a VIP+ priced at an eyewatering $1,000. 

He said the proceeds would all be donated to Palestinian causes.  

King shared a video on Facebook of him and his wife taking the shahada, professing their faith, at the start of Ramadan two weeks ago. 

In a post, he wrote: 'My heart is with my dearest friends in Gaza and I’m proud that we were able to provide meals tonight to thousands and thousands of families from the North to the South in Gaza and will do so every day of Ramadan.

The activist, known as one of the loudest voices behind the Black Lives Matter movement, had 5.6million followers on Instagram, where he fiercely criticized Israel and the U.S. following the October 7 terrorist attacks against the Jewish nation.

He has repeatedly framed the resulting war as a genocide against Palestinians by Israel financed by the United States government.

King was also previously accused of lying by the family of two American hostages who he claimed he helped free from Hamas.

He claimed he helped free Natalie Shoshana Raanan, 17, and her mother Judith Tai Raanan, 59, who were two of over 200 hostages taken by Hamas following their attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis on October 7.

King shared a video Facebook of him and his wife taking the shahada, professing their faith, at the Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving, Texas

King said that 'dozens of us' worked on their freeing and that the Raanan family 'have been supporters of mine, and protested police violence in America alongside us.'

But the family say King is lying and he did nothing to help the two women to their freedom, saying in a statement that: 'First and foremost, we make it clear he is lying!'

'Our family does not and did not have anything to do with him, neither directly nor indirectly,' they told TMZ. 'Not to him and not to anything he claims to represent.'

Uri Raanan, Natalie's father, later said to The Daily Beast that his son had been contacting King but that he still had little do with the release.

'We reached out to many people far and wide to bring Natalie and Judith to safety. We are not affiliated with Mr. King,' he said. 'Ben, my son was talking with him without anybody in the family knowing about it until today.'

'Our family in Israel posted this statement denying we knew him, before we learned about Ben talking to him,' Raanan added. 'We have nothing further to say.'

The activist is known as one of the loudest voices behind the Black Lives Matter movement

He claimed he helped free Natalie Shoshana Raanan, 17, and her mother Judith Tai Raanan, 59, who were two of over 200 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7

King, in a statement, claimed he was telling the truth but did not specify that he talked to anyone beyond the Raanan's son. 

He has also been accused of fraud on various occasions, including by the mother of Tamir Rice - a 12-year-old Ohio boy killed by Cleveland police - who claims he held unauthorized fundraisers in her son's name.

King has battled allegations of fraud for many years, but has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing in connection to Grassroots, which he founded to help get progressive elected to office.

Most infamously, he was accused of lying about being the victim of a horrific hate crime in his youth as a result of his race, which he allegedly faked his race to take advantage of a Oprah Winfrey scholarship.