Politics

NAACP Head And Convicted Murderer Says He’ll ‘Fire Back’ If We Report On Embezzlement

Screenshot from Todd Boyle Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3tKjJHmmLs

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Luke Rosiak Investigative Reporter
Font Size:

A high-ranking official convicted of murder threatened to “fire back” if The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group (TheDCNF) reported that a new branch president for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) embezzled during his tenure at a previous nonprofit.

Gerald Hankerson, president of the Alaska, Oregon and Washington State regional NAACP, told TheDCNF he wasn’t “authorizing” the disclosure because it “strikes a blow to the NAACP by indicating that we allow criminals at the leadership.”

Hankerson himself was sentenced to life in prison for aggravated murder and spent 23 years in prison before being granted leniency because he, in the governor’s words, “accepted full responsibility of his conduct,” but now claims he is innocent.

TheDCNF reported Thursday that the Anchorage, Alaska, branch of the NAACP in November elected Kevin McGee, who had been convicted of using his previous position as president of a government employees union to steal from, as a court document put it, “the very people he was supposed to represent.” In a victim impact statement, the union called McGee “an opportunistic thief who has shown no remorse.”

TheDCNF inquired whether Hankerson’s regional umbrella group, which oversees all the NAACPs in that corner of the country, was aware of the precarious situation, or whether McGee had hoodwinked members.

Hankerson acknowledged that McGee’s election could seem like “hiring a bank robber to run a bank,” but said he knew about McGee’s history in advance and did not have a problem with it. “Why would so many people feel comfortable” electing him if they held it against him? he asked.

In his own case, Hankerson in 2009 successfully petitioned the governor to be released and put on parole. But he still wasn’t happy, arguing it was “problematic” that he had to avoid further violating the law or parole or else return to prison.

So Hankerson later used his new position as an NAACP official to ask for a pardon from the new governor that would removing those restrictions.

In an interview, Hankerson, like McGee, offered conflicting explanations, waffling between saying that he deserved a second chance because he had turned away from a sinful past, and denying personal responsibility, claiming his innocence.

Hankerson has been portrayed as a poster child for “forgiveness” and “redemption,” but he claimed to TheDCNF he “didn’t do it,” citing the successful appeal to the governor’s compassion as evidence. “That’s what a pardon does, bro. That mean I didn’t do it.”

Asked whether Nai Vang Saeturn, the 25-year-old killed as part of a robbery outside a liquor store, would agree that executive action altered the facts, he said “you’re not going to be able to find him.”

Though he has publicly touted bridge-building, he told a reporter whose job is uncovering fraud that he was inspired to be president of the NAACP because of anger at “people like you” and because “they falsely convict black people.”

As for why potential Alaska donors should feel comfortable that their money was in good hands given McGee’s history, and asked how much money McGee was in charge of, Hankerson claimed his NAACP chapters don’t disclose their finances. Told that federal tax law generally requires nonprofits to do so, Hankerson responded by saying “take it up with the IRS.”

Hankerson said it shouldn’t matter what McGee did “20, 30 years ago,” but when reminded that McGee’s conviction was in 2010, said a white person isn’t capable of judging how short or long seven years was.

“For a black man that’s a long time,” he said.

Hankerson reportedly still calls himself “9-0,” a nickname given to him by members of the Crips gang with whom he associated in jail, and railed against a city requirement that officials see evidence that programs local taxpayers fund help the intended beneficiaries.

That money “should be ours,” he said. “We got to create our own s–t.”

Follow Luke on Twitter. Send tips to luke@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel