Shaun King accused of passing off Declaration of Independence research as his own, in since-deleted tweet

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Social justice activist Shaun King was accused on Twitter of passing off Declaration of Independence research as his own, in a since-deleted tweet.

By putting red dots over the faces of the slave-owning signers, Arlen Parsa, a Chicago-based documentary filmmaker, decolonized John Trumbull’s painting “Declaration of Independence,” which hangs in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.

Putting red dots over the faces of the slave-owning signers, Arlen Parsa, a Chicago-based documentary filmmaker, decolonized John Trumbull’s painting “Declaration of Independence,” which hangs in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.

On July 4 Shaun King tweeted the artwork without citation to make a critique of American history.

“Every man with a red dot on their face who signed the Declaration of Independence OWNED and enslaved Africans,” he wrote. “Over 75% of them. The rest permitted it.”

“I’m a historian by training. My undergraduate and graduate degrees are in history. Let me teach you something,” he added.

Parsa jumped in to take credit for his artwork.

“Hi, thanks for reposting the thing I spent quite a lot of time researching and making last fall!” Parsa wrote in response to King’s tweet. “I don’t mind that you reposted it— everyone is free to share it. I would love a shout out or some kind of credit though.”

King later apologized.

Neither Parsa nor King returned Fox News’ request for comment by press time.

Courtesy ARLEN PARSA

Other social activists chimed in speaking about King’s previous allegations of plagiarism.

“This is so on brand for Shaun King,” wrote Imani Gandy. “He’s been taking credit for Black women’s work for YEARS.”

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Shaun King visits SiriusXM Studios on September 04, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images) (Getty)

Activist Aurielle Marie in 2017 accused King of essentially stealing her work after bringing her in on a podcasting project.

She said that she "contributed COUNTLESS ideas for content" and that King said he would provide space and support for an organization she was running in exchange for her participation.

Then, however, Marie alleged that King essentially ghosted her and went ahead with the podcast using her ideas without her collaboration or crediting her.

King was asked about these accusations on "The Clay Cane Show" on Sirius XM's Urban View Radio.

"After this report, we may very well create another team, there is a whole separate thread of people saying that I have plagiarized articles, that I have stolen content. It has never happened. Not once. I am as sure and confident in that as I am saying that I have never touched a dollar that I've ever raised for any family, not just in this report, but before the report," King said.

He added: "I've never borrowed content and not properly credited it."