By Zenitha Prince
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The Rev. Al Sharpton held a press conference at the National Action Network’s New York office Nov. 19 to discuss the group’s plans as the nation awaits the decision of a St. Louis, Mo., grand jury on whether to bring charges against Darren Wilson, the White police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teen back in August.
“We are on high alert,” Sharpton said. “[And] I have pledged to the mother and father of Michael Brown that I will be with them when the decision is announced.”
The civil rights leader expressed concern over the length of the grand jury’s deliberations, as well as the lag in a decision in the police-involved death of Eric Garner, of Staten Island, N.Y.
“It is very suspect to us that grand juries in both cases appear to be improperly expanded to where it is now trying to prove or disprove the accused rather than to see if there is probable cause to go to trial,” he said. “There’s no reason the grand juries in both cases should be taking this long.”
National Action Network’s plan calls for protestors in 25 cities to hold vigils and nonviolent demonstrations before government buildings to urge the federal government to launch a probe into Wilson, the officer who shot and killed Brown. He also said the group’s actions will not be limited to the time before the grand jury decision is made.
“We are calling on everyone to act in a strategic, nonviolent way,” he said of his advice to protestors, “but to not think that a decision means the case is over.”
For most of the 30-minute press conference, however, Sharpton addressed allegations raised in a New York Times story about state and federal taxes owed by Sharpton and NAN.
“Records reviewed by The New York Times show more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses [Raw Talent and Revals Communications],” the article stated, later adding, “His National Action Network appears to have been sustained for years by not paying federal payroll taxes on its employees.”
Sharpton called the story “misleading and totally out of context” and based upon tax liabilities that have already been addressed.
“National Action Network and I owe no current taxes…. We, at the same time, while remaining current on all taxes, paid on the agreed upon settlement with the federal government on pre-2008 claims,” he said.
Sharpton also addressed the reporter’s claim that “he has leaned on the generosity of friends and sometimes even the organization, intermingling its finances with his own to cover his daughters’ private school tuition.”
“There is not one dime that National Action Network has every paid for my daughters’ tuition,” he said. He borrowed against his $250,000 salary to pay tuition, he acceded, but then he has also gone years without accepting a salary and has given no-interest loans to the organization when they had shortfalls.
Sharpton questioned the motive behind the Times story.
“Every time there’s a Sean Bell or a Ferguson or a Trayvon Martin my taxes come up,” he said. “I think it’s political. A lot of people don’t like the fact that President Obama’s the president. A lot of people do not like the fact that Bill de Blasio won for mayor. And they certainly don’t like that I’m still here, and I ain’t going nowhere.”