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Shaun King BLOCKED by hundreds on Twitter after 'mansplaining' and 'weaponizing' Samaria Rice's trauma: 'So gross'

'Shaun King is and has always been a leech who uses other people’s pain as a personal platform and money-making machine,' wrote a reader.

Writer and activist Shaun King has faced a sea of criticism on the Internet after users started calling out his problematic article on Samaria Rice, the mother of 12-year-old Tamir Rice who was shot by White police office Timothy Loehmann. In the article, which some have accused of 'mansplaining', King goes on to analyze the latest Facebook posts by Samaria Rice. In the posts, Rice has called out Tamika Mallory and strongly accused activists like her of the commodification of Black deaths. 

However, it appears that King, who is clearly uncomfortable with Samaria's outburst and disappointment, tried to patronize her and subtly call out her anger - through certain problematic statements. "Ultimately, what I know is that a grieving mother like Samaria Rice has every right to be skeptical and hurt and suspicious and cynical. She wasn’t born that way, but this evil and unrelentingly racist country forced her into that corner. It’s our job to gracefully and patiently help her find her way out," read the concluding lines of his article on North Star, which is now at the helm of backlash. 

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What is problematic about Shaun King's article?

Readers have pointed out the trends of gaslighting and manipulation in Shaun King's article targeting Samaria Rice. In addition, the article also sports a patronizing tone which is strongly disrespectful towards Rice and her relentless fight for justice. 

"That Shaun King article is wild, insensitive, and unnecessary. Just wild. I have no words. I have so many feels. Just wow. It’s the lack of humility for me. The lack of complete humility and grace at the most pivotal moments in our movement," expressed one user.

Another added, "I read it! What I see is a man who needed to mind his business but felt the need to write an article defending his friend and undermining Ms. Rice pain because she has every right to be critical when yall use these parents dead children for social media gain."

Another user pointed out the hypocrisy in King's article, "Samaria Rice asked people to stop making money off her and her son's name, and Shaun King responded by writing an article with her name in the title and put it on his website that you can't even comment on without paying. That's Shaun King."

Internet slams Shaun King for 'ugly, patronizing s**t'

As soon as the backlash around his article surfaced, users started calling out King's problematic actions in the past and accuse him of weaponizing Samaria Rice's heartwrenching trauma. 

"Shaun King weaponizing Samaria Rice's trauma to attempt to dismiss what she's saying as coming solely from a place of grief - and thus irrationality - is SO BOLD and SO GROSS. Samaria Rice is certainly in grief, and she is certainly traumatized, and she is also CORRECT," one user wrote. 

Another responded, "Shaun King is and has always been a leech who uses other people’s pain as a personal platform and money-making machine." A third user added, "I read Shaun King’s piece about Samaria Rice’s critical social media comments and this is some of the most patronizing ugly shit I’ve ever seen."

Meanwhile, many have blocked and unfollowed King on Twitter, only to discover that he had blocked them earlier for being his critic.

"My main account is locked because I sent a mean tweet to Shaun King, only to find out he has me blocked so lol," tweeted one. "Shaun King blocked me on Twitter for defending him as someone who is not a straight grifter but rather crowdfunded a media business that just did not pan out after years of (obviously misplaced in retrospect) support for him in the past. Why is he trending now?" wrote author Grant Stern.

The demand was also strong for unfollowing and blocking him in general. 

"Today would be an absolutely great day to BLOCK Shaun King. Thanks in advance. All love and support to Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice," a well-wisher for Samaria Rice tweeted. Another added, "I'm sorry, but what the fuck is this shit? Today is an absolutely perfect day to unfollow/block Shaun King, just a suggestion."

It now remains to be seen how Shaun King, a White activist for the Black Lives Matter movement, redeems himself following the outrage, and whether or not he apologizes for his problematic remarks about Rice.