BLM Leader Indicted for Fraud, Money Laundering

The executive director of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Oklahoma City was indicted for allegedly siphoning off more than $3 million in grants to bankroll luxury vacations, shopping sprees, groceries, a car, and six properties over five years, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52, was slapped with 20 wire fraud counts and five money laundering charges for funneling $3.15 million meant for the group’s bail fund and social justice programs into her own accounts between June 2020 and October 2025, according to the Department of Justice.

Dickerson, who has led the Black Lives Matter local affiliate since at least 2016, reported on annual filings that the sizable donations were used solely for tax-exempt purposes, prosecutors said.

The local branch raised more than $5.6 million through its affiliation with the Arizona-based Alliance for Global Justice, its fiscal sponsor, which required bail fund grants to be used for pretrial bail for individuals arrested in racial justice protests after George Floyd’s 2020 killing, according to federal officials.

But when those checks were returned to the chapter, Dickerson quietly routed them into her accounts.

Prosecutors said she used the large sum to travel to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. She also spent more than $50,000 on groceries and food deliveries for herself and her children, and shelled out “tens of thousands” on retail shopping.

The money also funded a personal car in her name and six Oklahoma City properties, deeded either to her personally or to Equity International LLC, an entity she solely controlled, the indictment showed.

Dickerson, who had access to the BLM chapter’s bank, PayPal, and CashApp accounts, allegedly used interstate wires to submit two of the fraudulent annual reports to the Alliance for Global Justice.

She was arraigned on her charges in federal court Thursday.

In a nearly 13-minute Facebook video, Dickerson said she was not in custody and was doing “fine,” while attempting to explain that the charges levied against her are common in the type of work she does.

“I cannot make an official comment about what transpired today,” she said in the chaotic video, filmed in her car while wearing oxygen, noting that she knew the indictment was coming.

“I am home. I am safe. I have confidence in our team. A lot of times when people come at you with these types of things … it’s evidence that you are doing the work. That is what I’m standing on.”

She bizarrely insisted that her long-winded video was not an official statement, but rather a message to her family and friends who were worried about her, even as she urged people to register to vote, remain engaged, and promised to remain active in her community to secure “liberation” for “her people.”

Dickerson now faces up to 20 years in federal lock up for each wire fraud count and 10 years for each money laundering charge, along with potential fines of up to $250,000 per count.