Anti-cop activist accused of blowing $75K in donations, failing to pay employee



A nonprofit adjacent to the "Defund the Police" movement and its founder are in hot water after the attorney general of Washington, D.C., accused them of blowing tens of thousands of dollars on luxury trips and services while failing to pay an employee her due.

On Monday, the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia announced a lawsuit against Raheem AI, a nonprofit dedicated to so-called police reform and accountability, and founder and executive director Brandon Anderson.

'My office will not allow people to masquerade behind noble causes while violating the law, cheating taxpayers, or stealing from their workers.'

Since 2021, Anderson has allegedly spent $75,000 in Raheem AI donations "for his own personal use," the AG press release claimed. His lavish expenditures allegedly included $40,000 in high-end vacation rentals, $10,000 for a trip to Cancun and other "personal travel," $10,000 on designer clothing, and even $5,000 in emergency veterinary bills.

Meanwhile, the Raheem AI board of directors apparently did little to stop these questionable alleged splurges. For one thing, since 2020, the nonprofit has not had a separate treasurer to manage finances and oversee spending as required by law, the press release claimed. The board also allegedly "failed to implement any measures to oversee the organization’s finances, including Anderson’s corruption."

Finally, Raheem AI apparently had only one D.C.-based employee — a deputy director whom the New York Post identified as Jasmine Banks — but failed to pay her "tens of thousands of dollars in earned wages," the press release said. The organization also allegedly compelled Banks to sign a noncompete clause, even though such clauses are illegal in D.C. for employees like Banks who made less than $150,000.

In filing the lawsuit, the D.C. attorney general hopes to dissolve Raheem AI, recover the misspent funds and Banks' alleged lost wages, and prevent Anderson from leading any D.C. nonprofit ever again.

"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," Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement.

Schwalb's statement also indicated that the police reform demanded by Raheem AI was a "noble cause" but that the organization had used it to shield itself from proper oversight.

"My office will not allow people to masquerade behind noble causes while violating the law, cheating taxpayers, or stealing from their workers," he said.

Anderson did not respond to the Post's request for comment regarding the lawsuit.

'Individual expenditures are easy to mischaracterize without the burden of context.'

Banks, who no longer works for Raheem AI, told the New York Times back in August that she now believes that Anderson and his organization may have been a "con" job all along.

Anderson, who supports abolishing the police, founded Raheem AI in 2017, initially to create an app where victims could report police misconduct and later to provide an app alternative to calling 911.

The organization is also obsessed with race, promising to "equip black, brown, and indigenous community crisis responders with the tools, training, connections, and funding they need to provide care," according to the press release.

Anderson claimed he named the organization after a boyfriend who died in Oklahoma in 2007 during a "routine traffic stop." Anderson alleged that the cop involved in the incident had a history of violence. However, the Times was unable to identify any homicide victim in Oklahoma with the name Raheem or any case of alleged police brutality in the state that matched Anderson's description.

Banks claimed she came to suspect that Anderson had never actually experienced police-related violence after he declined to join a group of survivors. "He wouldn’t engage with other impacted family members. I would invite him all the time, and he just wouldn’t do it," she said.

Anderson told the Times that the accusations lobbed by Banks and others were "rife with untruths" but did not provide any specific examples. He also acknowledged that his plans for Raheem AI have been a "failure."

"It’s easy to assign failure to one cause or another in hindsight, and individual expenditures are easy to mischaracterize without the burden of context," he said in a statement. "The bottom line is simply that it didn’t work, and as the leader of that effort I share most of the blame."

The Raheem AI board has recently "ceased operations" and placed Anderson on leave, the press release claimed.

As of Tuesday morning, the organization's website, Raheem.org, currently purports to be "under construction." An archived version asserted that "getting killed by police is the sixth leading cause of death for young Black men in America."

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Defund the Police Activist Misappropriated $75,000 in Donations, DC Attorney General Alleges

The District of Columbia's attorney general is suing a Defund the Police activist for misappropriating $75,000 in charity funds for mansion rentals, a Cancún trip, and designer clothes.

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‘Lacking the Votes’: Schumer Abandons Embattled Biden Judicial Nominee Adeel Mangi

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has abandoned hopes of confirming Third Circuit Appeals Court nominee Adeel Mangi, whom some Senate Democrats opposed over links to anti-police groups uncovered by the Washington Free Beacon.

The post ‘Lacking the Votes’: Schumer Abandons Embattled Biden Judicial Nominee Adeel Mangi appeared first on .

Anti-Police Groups Rake In $2 Million From California Health Department

A California health department poured millions of taxpayer dollars into anti-police groups over the last year for projects ranging from COVID-19 treatment to coaching teens on social justice activism, a Washington Free Beacon review of state grant spending found.

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Leftist mayor of San Francisco defeated by political rookie



The leftist mayor of San Francisco who presided over a shocking rise in crime and homeless over the past six years will soon leave office, having lost her re-election bid to a businessman with no political experience.

London Breed, 50, became mayor of San Francisco after winning a special election in the wake of the passing of Mayor Ed Lee in late 2017. Since then, she has implemented a radical agenda.

'Over the coming weeks, I plan to reflect on all the progress we’ve made.'

She was among the first mayors of a major city to strip law enforcement of funding in keeping with the BLM cry to "defund the police" following the death of George Floyd. In 2020, Breed announced that she would cut a whopping $120 million from the budgets of both San Francisco’s police and sheriff’s departments, the New York Post reported in December 2021.

Within a year, she had reversed course about funding law enforcement, but by then, homelessness and crime, particularly property-related crime, had soared. In March, residents from the Tenderloin district even sued the city for failing to address these problems.

"Every day, at all hours, people are dealing drugs and using drugs in front of [the plaintiffs'] apartment building. There are encampments. People are lighting bonfires. Their sidewalks are filthy with all kinds of problems from used syringes to human waste," said Matthew Davis, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys.

Facing a tough re-election battle this year amid a slate of eager challengers and ranked-choice voting, Breed then tacked toward the center. At a debate in front of a crowd of unionized firefighters in July, Breed announced that she would crack down on homeless encampments following the Supreme Court ruling Grants Pass v. Johnson.

"We have had to move from a compassionate city to a city of accountability, and I have been leading the efforts to ensure that we are addressing this issue differently than we have before," Breed said at the time.

"We will continue to lead with services, but we also can't continue to allow people to do what they want on the streets of San Francisco, especially when we have a place for them to go."

Such gestures were too little, too late, apparently.

On Tuesday, voters decided to go with Daniel Lurie, the 47-year-old heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and the current CEO of the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point, KTVU reported.

Because of his wealth and quick rise from relative obscurity, critics accused him of trying to buy his way into office. Lurie dismissed those allegations.

"You can't buy an election in San Francisco. You've got to go out and earn every vote," he said.

Though voters often ranked both Breed and Lurie on their ballot, as of Thursday, Breed trailed Lurie considerably, 43.8% to 56.2%. Breed then called Lurie to concede.

She also posted a concession message to X, claiming to have done her best and made significant "progress" during her time in office.

"I answered the call and always gave San Francisco and its people my heart and soul."

Breed also expressed optimism about the future.

"I am the Mayor – but you all are doing the hard work every day and the City is on the rise. Over the coming weeks, I plan to reflect on all the progress we’ve made. But today, I am proud that we have truly accomplished so much and my heart is filled with gratitude," she wrote.

Lurie, a political neophyte, has already pledged to secure 1,500 more housing units for the homeless within six months of taking office. He also wants to hire 450 new police officers within three years, according to KTVU.

However, he also cautioned that the city will not turn the corner "overnight."

"I'm deeply grateful to my incredible family, campaign team and every San Franciscan who voted for accountability, service and change. No matter who you supported in this election, we stand united in the fight for San Francisco's future and a safer and more affordable city for all," he said in a statement.

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Sue Altman Spent Months Distancing Herself From Her Progressive Past. Then a Far-Left Group Spent $735,000 on Her Election Bid.

Democratic New Jersey congressional candidate Sue Altman claimed in September that she had "broken" with the Working Families Party on a range of issues—part of her effort to distance herself from her progressive past as a state chapter leader. But two weeks later, the far-left group began dumping more than $735,000 into the swing-district candidate's election bid.

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Tammy Baldwin Aide Participated in Anti-Police Protest That Led to Brutal Assault on Officer Outside His Home

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s longtime aide participated in an anti-police demonstration outside a Wisconsin police officer’s home during which the cop and his girlfriend were violently assaulted, according to police reports obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

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Councilmembers seek to silence NYPD officials critical of leftist anti-cop agenda



Several Democratic New York City councilmembers have sponsored a bill introduced in September that would significantly restrict what New York Police Department officials can post on social media.

The legislation, "Establishing rules of decorum for posting on official social media accounts," was proposed by Councilwoman Nantasha Williams (D) and has collected seven co-sponsors, including Democratic councilmembers Gale Brewer, Lincoln Restler, Shahana Hanif, Althea Stevens, Alexa Avilés, Shekar Krishnan, and Christopher Marte.

'The far left is not happy enough tying the hands of our police officers. Now they are trying to silence them too.'

Williams' bill seeks to require the city to "promulgate rules establishing minimum standards relating to decorum that all agencies must follow in posting on official social media accounts."

The posts cannot "insult, intimidate, or harass the public and shall not prohibit the posting of statistical or factual information." The bill's "minimum" standards declare that officials cannot post anything "attributing negative characteristics or traits to particular persons or to groups of persons," "using language that is intended to incite violence," and "using language that is intended to intimidate."

Williams' legislation also mandates that the city establish a complaint-reporting mechanism for potential violations of these standards. Additionally, the city would be required to launch efforts to educate the public about the new standards and its reporting system.

The bill carves out exceptions to official social media accounts of elected officials and accounts associated with an online alias.

Williams wrote to fellow councilmembers in an email, "The need for this legislation has become increasingly evident, most recently highlighted by the actions of NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell."

"This legislation is a proactive step toward ensuring that our social media platforms are used to inform and engage the public, not for personal attacks or politically motivated behavior," she added.

Some NYPD officials, including Chell, have used their social media accounts to push back on leftist politicians' anti-cop agenda.

In May, Chell torched Councilmember Tiffany Cabán (D) for calling the department's response to the Columbia University pro-Hamas protests "a colossal disgrace," "a horrifying affront to democracy in free speech," and "an abject failure of public safety."

Chell responded to Cabán's statement, calling it "garbage" and noting that it "is coming from a person who hates our city and certainly does not represent the great people of NYC."

"Last night's criminal conduct by entitled non accountable students and the support they receive from Councilmember Tiffany Caban is a colossal disgrace," Chell fired back at the councilmember. "A horrifying affront to democracy and proper behavior from people who are not accountable for their behavior. This was an abject failure of how civilized people are expected to behave in society while continually acting like a perpetual victim."

Chell's statement prompted the Department of Investigation to launch a probe at the request of Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D) and the Legal Aid Society.

"These posts can often convey inaccurate or misleading information and could potentially incite threats of violence," Adams claimed. "This conduct is dangerous, unethical, unprofessional because included in the department's mission is to preserve peace, protect the people and reduce fear at the preliminary budget."

In addition to Chell's social media posts, the department came under fire after publishing its first "NYPD: Most Wanted" video in March. The two-minute, action-packed clip showed officers taking down "real-life individuals facing criminal charges."

According to NYPD spokesperson Tarik Sheppard, the department created the video and others like it to "push back on the misinformation that's out there."

"Because if we don't, it could cause damage to the reputation of our cops and the work that we're doing," Sheppard told the Associated Press.

Councilman Robert Holden (D) pushed back against Williams' proposed bill, stating, "The far left is not happy enough tying the hands of our police officers."

"Now they are trying to silence them too. When will this lunacy stop?" Holden asked.

Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R) said, "When the City Council starts legislating what public agencies can and can't say, that's not governance — that's censorship."

"This isn't just wrong; it's un-American. Forcing agencies to simply toe the party line and follow a script or face legal retribution is authoritarianism, plain and simple, and it flies in the face of everything that our Constitution and the First Amendment stands for," Ariola added.

Last month, NYPD Interim Commissioner Thomas Donlon announced a plan to enact a "one voice" policy within the department, warning officials, "There's only one voice in this department, and that's me."

The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment from the New York Post.

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Kamala’s Long-Time Protégé Wants To Defund The Police And Empty Jails

'Defund and abolish the way we did things before'

Meet Kamala Harris’s Far-Left Protégé She No Longer Wants To Discuss: Lateefah Simon, Who Calls the VP ‘Auntie,' Is on a Lifelong Crusade To Defund the Police and Keep Criminals Out of Jail

As Kamala Harris aggressively tacks to the center in her run for the presidency, back in her notoriously progressive birthplace of Oakland, one of her closest associates is also seeking national office. Lateefah Simon, Harris’s longtime protege, close friend, and early proponent of the "defund the police" movement, is running for Congress. But unlike Harris, Simon is proud of her progressive views.

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