Equity "community leader" charged with embezzlement | California man charged with threatening synagogues, police | UNC BOG repeal DEI policy
Equity "community leader" charged with embezzlement | California man charged with threatening synagogues, police | UNC BOG repeal DEI policy
No. 73 — May 19-May 25, 2024
"Community Leader" arrested for embezzling from "equity" non-profit
Charges: Woman embezzled almost $100K from Raleigh charity that helps young people of color - WRAL
Southeast Raleigh community leader charged with embezzling nearly $100,000 - N&O
Kia Eugenia Baker, Knightdale, has been arrested and charged by the Raleigh Police for allegedly embezzling nearly a hundred thousand dollars from an equity-focused non-profit, The Resiliency Collaborative (TRC).
TRC describes its mission as "partner[ing] with BIPOC youth and their ecosystems to strengthen their sense of identity, belonging, and purpose so they can create a healthier, more equitable Wake County."
Baker was caught after the organization discovered missing funds:
“In March of 2024, we learned that some funds were missing from The Resiliency Collaborative’s (TRC) accounts,” Nikki Boyd and Melanie Hemphill, the co-chairs of the group’s board, said in a statement Thursday. “We took immediate action, including asking an employee to resign, securing our accounts, filing a police report and hiring a new professional CPA to review all of our accounts and finances.
“The police have since shared with us that the former employee admitted to stealing money from TRC. Court records show she has turned herself in.”
- Source: News & Observer
Before joining the resiliency collaborative, Baker was Executive Director at Southeast Raleigh Promise, another non-profit along the same lines with a mission focused on "equitable opportunities".
According to court records, Baker appears to have been brought to court multiple times in the past for unpaid credit card debt, suggesting she may not have been a good fit for any position involving fiduciary trust.
The amount Baker is alleged to have stolen, $99,564, comes just under the $100,000 threshold for a more serious offenses under NC G.S. § 14-90. Baker faces a Class H felony, which can be punished by a maximum of 25 months incarceration.
UNC Board of Governors votes to repeal 2019 DEI policy
UNC Board of Governors vote to repeal of DEI policy in place since 2019 - ABC11
N.C. public universities board repeals policy, likely leading to cuts in diversity jobs - Spectrum News 1
Several UNC Chapel Hill's Project Uplift counselors resign after diversity policy repeal - WRAL
In a Thursday meeting, the Board of Governors of the UNC system voted to repeal a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy implemented in 2019 which included mandatory DEI officers at all public universities in the system.
We'll see how this works in practice; policy is only effective if it is put into practice. I suspect some of the universities may attempt to maintain the current DEI practices and staff, though perhaps under a new name.
In related news, UNC System President Peter Hans has indicated that the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees' move last week to divert DEI funding to "public safety" was invalid, as the Trustees do not have the power to make line-item budget changes.
Two of the DEI supporters who gathered were arrested as the group resisted police orders to leave they hallway outside the meeting that they were chanting and clapping in:
See also:
California man charged with threatening Triangle law enforcement, synagogues
California man accused of communicating threats to Wake County Sheriff's Office, Jewish NC residents - ABC11
California Man Arrested for Making Violent Threats Against North Carolinians - U.S. Attorney's Office
Criminal Complaint - RECAP/PACER
A former North Carolina resident now living in California has been arrested charged in regards to threatening phone calls he allegedly made, including to the Wake County Sheriff's Office, a Durham Police detective, and two Triangle area synagogues.
According to the criminal complaint, Kevin Day Dunlow of Huntington Beach, CA was charged with Transmitting a Threat in Interstate Commerce as well as making a false bomb threat to the Wake County Sheriff's Office.
Dunlow's alleged threats were made against specific individuals, as well as "Jews", "Freemasons", and their children:
"We are going to kill M--- R--- 's children", (call to the Wake County Sheriff's Office Communication Center)
"I'm a sleeper of forty-five ( 45) years, you need to pay attention, I'm going to kill your children. I'm gonna kill a lot of them," (call to the Wake County Sheriff's Office Communication Center)
"There's a bomb in the Sheriff's Office coming. were going kill you. Can you pass that message along," (call to the Wake County Sheriff's Office Communication Center)
"I'm going to kill all of your Jewish Children," (call to the Beth El Synagogue in Durham)
"I'm lokkked [sic] and loaded on your Freemason terrorist families and children. It's just a matter of timing. I look forward to the opportunity to do you personally, you armed. Lying, criminal Freemason terrorist member-associate," (text messages to a detective from the Durham Police Department investigating the synagogue threat)
"Jews didn't deserve to live. Jews didn't deserve to be on this earth. I'm going to kill the Jews. I'm coming to the Temple to kill all the Jews and the children," (call to the Temple Beth Or synagogue, Raleigh)
According to the complaint, Dunlow has a criminal history involving threats and violence:
A review of KD's criminal history indicates an extensive criminal history which begins in or around 1980 and spans multiple decades, to include: convictions for assault inflicting serious injury and assault and a charge for assault inflicting serious injury. KD has three (3) active warrants in NC for threatening phone calls (2021), communicating threats (2022) and communicating threats (2022).
Dunlow faces up to five years in prison for these charges.
Misc. Reading
Cary home break-ins potentially linked with organized crime group from South America - WRAL
Woman Charged in Pit Bull Pack Attack Near Jordan Lake - Chapelboro.com
Facing a critical shortage, Wake County launches campaign aimed at recruiting foster parents - WUNC
YMCA after-school worker accused of secret peeping at Raleigh elementary school - N&O
‘We are in a crisis’: Lead cleanup in Durham parks expected to cost millions, take years - NC Newsline
Editor’s note: I apologize for the delay in publishing, I was at the NC GOP convention over the weekend