BLM activist Shaun King has once again been trending on social media, after he suggested on Friday that he played a role in the release of U.S. hostages Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter Natalie from the clutches of Hamas terrorists.
It began with an October 10 post that King made on Instagram, in which he included a picture of Natalie and said, “This is Natalie Raanan. She’s a teenager and is believed to have been taken hostage near Gaza border this weekend. She’s an American citizen and just graduated high school in Illinois earlier this year.”
“Her dear family has asked that I help them find her and bring her to safety,” King continued. ”Natalie and her family are supporters of mine, protested against police brutality in the United States with me, and have spoken out against injustice in Israel.”
“I believe we have confirmed that she was NOT killed in Israel, but we are just asking for proof of life right now,” he told his followers. ”The family wants her to be alive, but if she’s been killed we’d like to know this too.”
On Friday, when news of Judith and Natalie’s release broke, King appeared to take some credit for the rescue, writing on Instagram, “Hamas has just freed the teenager Natalie Raanan and her mother. I’m grateful.”
“As I said last week,” he continued, “Natalie and her family have been supporters of mine and protested police violence in America alongside us.”
“I am also thankful for the Qatari government for helping to negotiate this. Dozens of us worked frantically behind the scenes to help make this possible,” he stated. “I spoke to Natalie’s family this afternoon and they are anxiously awaiting more updates.”
According to TMZ, the Raanan family issued a statement “saying they straight up don’t know this guy.”
“Today we came across bizarre posts on the Instagram page of one Shaun King, who turns out to have millions of followers, who claims that our relative Natalie Raanan supports the anti-Israeli messages he uploads to his page,” the Raanan family wrote.
“First and foremost, we make it clear that he is lying!” they continued. “Our family does not and did not have anything to do with him, neither directly nor indirectly. Not to him and not to anything he claims to represent.”
.@POTUS spoke this evening with the two American citizens who had been held hostage by Hamas. We are so grateful that they are safe.
We will continue to do everything we can to unite all hostages with their loved ones. pic.twitter.com/rp1YDtB8Zu— U.S. Embassy Jerusalem (@usembassyjlm) October 20, 2023
“They go on to say Natalie has never met Shaun, and she first learned about him today amid all the speculation … of which there’s been much,” TMZ reports. “The Raanan family says folks shouldn’t buy what King’s selling … and that his claims amount to misinformation — which they say is spreading like wildfire. They also note they have more family members and loved ones in captivity that they’re working to have released.”
On X, King slapped back at the snub, and he brought “receipts.”
STATEMENT from Ben Raanan, brother of Natalie Raanan, the young hostage that was freed by Hamas.
Ben, a longtime supporter of mine, was the American spokesperson for the family and first reached out to me for help on October 9th.
Followed by a THREAD of receipts/records. pic.twitter.com/BL4kRlewYD
— Shaun King (@shaunking) October 21, 2023
He posted a statement from Natalie’s brother, Ben Raanan, in which Ben claimed he “reached out to activist Shaun King.”
In a thread too lengthy to repost here, King provided copies of text messages he exchanged with Ben.
“We texted and talked and messaged non stop for the next 10 days,” King wrote. “And behind the scenes I spoke to every person I knew in Gaza to see if she could be freed.”
What follows will be more of my text messages with Ben Raanan, older brother of the freed hostage Natalie Raanan.
We texted and talked and messaged non stop for the next 10 days.
And behind the scenes I spoke to every person I knew in Gaza to see if she could be freed. pic.twitter.com/k1JDluLrSO
— Shaun King (@shaunking) October 21, 2023
In one post, he claimed that Israel directed the Raanan family to “distance themselves” from him.
“In a phone conversation I just had with the family of Natalie Raanan, they relayed to me that because I was involved with her release that Israeli’s pressured them to distance themselves from me,” he stated. “They also relayed that they do not feel safe in Israel right now as a result.”
In a phone conversation I just had with the family of Natalie Raanan, they relayed to me that because I was involved with her release that Israeli’s pressured them to distance themselves from me.
They also relayed that they do not feel safe in Israel right now as a result.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) October 21, 2023
According to TMZ, “King has been accused of inserting himself into high-profile situations like these in the past — and there are certainly a lot of folks who don’t believe him.”
“Still,” the outlet says, “he’s standing firm.”
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