Grand Jury Probes Boston Nonprofit Key In Mikayla Miller Protests

Boston MA

08 March, 2022

11:00 AM

Description

BOSTON, MA — A federal grant jury is probing the nonprofit founded by Monica Cannon-Grant, a Boston activist who organized local demonstrations around the deaths of George Floyd and Hopkinton teen Mikayla Miller, according to a new report. The Boston Globe reported this week that a grand jury has subpoenaed records related to the use of donations to Cannon-Grant's nonprofit, Violence In Boston. The probe grew out of a separate criminal case against Cannon-Grant's husband, the newspaper reported. Clark Grant, 38, was arrested at his Taunton home in October after federal officials said he filed fraudulent pandemic unemployment relief claims. Grant collected over $67,000 in unemployment claims between May 2020 and September 2021 while collecting a salary from a full-time job, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said in a news release. Grant has not been indicted yet due to difficulty convening grand juries during the omicron surge, according to court documents. Grant has also been charged with one count of making a false statement on a loan. He listed Violence In Boston's assets as his own while applying for a mortgage, according to prosecutors. "To augment his financial assets, Grant falsely listed as a personal asset a bank account on the mortgage application that was not a personal asset. Specifically, Grant listed aBank of America account [that] contained $461,548.73," charging documents say, referring to a Violence In Boston bank account. Grant is also listed as a director on Violence In Boston's most recent IRS filing. According to IRS filings, Violence In Boston took in just over $5,000 in donations in 2017, its first year in operation. The income grew to over $45,000 in 2018, and close to $93,000 in 2019 — the last year contribution data was available. The nonprofit's website says Violence In Boston's mission is to "improve the quality of life and life outcomes of individuals from underserved communities by reducing the prevalence of violence and the impact of associated trauma while addressing social injustices through advocacy and direct services." The website indicates Violence In Boston recently began accepting contributions from government agencies to become a "one-stop-shop for comprehensive victim services." Last spring, Cannon-Grant and Violence In Boston organized rallies that drew scores of people to Hopkinton after the death of Mikayla Miller. A passerby found the 16-year-old dead after an apparent suicide on April 18. The night before her death, Miller got into a fight with two other teens at her Route 135 apartment complex. Cannon-Grant claimed that local police and the Middlesex County District Attorney had not properly investigated whether Miller died by homicide. Violence In Boston did not immediately return a request for comment about the Boston Globe report.