A key figure in the Black Lives Matter movement who claimed he was the victim of a horrific hate crime in his youth as a result his race has been outed as white.

Shaun King, an author and writer who is one of the leading voices speaking out against police brutality on social media, has claimed he is biracial in numerous interviews.

King has said that his father is black and his mother is white and of Irish descent - but his birth certificate lists his parents as both white.

In addition, King's race is listed as white in the police report of the aforementioned attack that occurred while he was in high school.

King also applied for and then accepted an Oprah scholarship to Morehouse College - which are only given to black men - but claims he never lied to receive that scholarship.

The 35-year-old responded to the controversy on Twitter Wednesday by saying; 'Out of LOVE for my family, I've never gone public with my racial story because it's hurtful, scandalous, and it's MY STORY.'

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Shaun King (above), an author and writer who is one of the leading voices speaking out against police brutality on social media, has claimed he is mixed

A report now claims he is white, citing a police report that labels him as white (above)

Early days: King in his second grade school photo (left); and with his mother as a baby (right)

The report also claims that the parents listed on his birth certificate (above) were both white as well

Family: King is pictured with his children in this photo from earlier this year

These claims were first uncovered by the site ReNews-It, and then Breitbart, and King compared their attack to President Obama being asked to show his birth certificate to prove he was born in America.

Out of LOVE for my family, I've never gone public with my racial story because it's hurtful, scandalous, and it's MY STORY.

'In essence, what is happening to me now, is like conservatives demanding Obama's long form birth certificate. It's all BULLSH*T,' he said.

King also wrote on Twitter of his family; 'The key facts about my biological relatives are all wrong. They tried, but my family, like many of yours, is one big mess.

'Like many of you, I have siblings I don't know, siblings I'm estranged from, and a family full of secrets, divorce, affairs, etc.

'No 2 siblings in my family have the same set of parents. We're all over the place. Some of us are not even blood relatives.'

He ended by writing; 'Trying hard not to slip into a deep funk over all of this garbage, but my life, my past, my pain, my family, ARE VERY REAL TO ME.'

He also posted a Facebook message that again evaded the race question, but had a testimonial from a former college classmate and friend praising his actions over the years.

'Some people think I showed up last year after Mike Brown was killed and faked my way into the conversation. Thankful for folk who've known me for 20 years,' wrote King.

His friend meanwhile wrote; 'Shaun got called "Ni***r" just as much, if not more, than myself or any of my black friends and family while growing up in Versailles.

Trying hard not to slip into a deep funk over all of this garbage, but my life, my past, my pain, my family, ARE VERY REAL TO ME.

'Do you think an 8 year old would volunteer for that type of treatment? A funny colored, wavy haired child just trying to navigate life? To have anything from racial slurs to cups full of dip-spit (chewing tobacco) hurled at you from confederate flag covered pick-up trucks?

'And then 20 years later have some right wing assholes question whether it ever happened and go as far as to call you a fraud and try to de-bunk years of social justice work that you've put under your belt?

'We grew up in a town where white mothers were constantly dis-owned by their families for having relationships and making children with black fathers. Where even into the 2000's, the racial identities of mix-raced children were a taboo topic.

'Shaun was a direct victim of that. 20 years later, much progress has been made in my town of Versailles, but we are proving we have much further to go if people from my home town don't speak the fu*k up.'

King climbing a tree in a photo posted to his Instagram account

Jeffrey King, King's alleged father, who he has claimed in the past is black (left); King's brother Jason (right)

Sean's brother Russ King (above) a 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron electrician

Montel Williams wrote on Twitter after seeing this; 'Shaun King cut out the damn drama and answer the damn question - good lord you are a drama queen. It's yes or no!'

This comes after King attacked Williams for saying activist DeRay McKesson 'is no MLK.'

King responded to this by criticizing Williams for his family life, posting an unflattering article about his relationship with his children and writing; 'Really Montel? Take care of your house bruh and keep a good man's name out ya mouth.'

No 2 siblings in my family have the same set of parents. We're all over the place. Some of us are not even blood relatives.

King also commented on the claim on the police report that he only suffered minor injuries during the attack that took place in high school.

'Over 20 years ago, when I was 15 years old, I was beaten so badly I missed the next 20 months of school recovering from fractures to my face and ribs, and severe injuries to my spine,' he wrote on Facebook.

'I had three brutal spinal surgeries during that time and it changed the entire course of my life. I received counseling for PTSD and have had multiple spinal surgeries and years of physical therapy since.'

He also had a fellow student write a detailed account of what happened, and multiple people that attended Morehouse with him commented that he suffered from back problems even then.

Growing up: King as a young boy in Kentucky in a photo he shared on Instagram

King in two photos he posted of himself to Instagram

King also wrote about that fight on his Daily Kos profile, saying it was a hate crime.

High school was a rude awakening for me. I quickly found myself in the middle of decades old racial tensions and became the focus of constant abuse of the resident rednecks of my school.

'High school was a rude awakening for me. I quickly found myself in the middle of decades old racial tensions and became the focus of constant abuse of the resident rednecks of my school.

'I had half a dozen fights my freshman year, had a jar of tobacco spit thrown on me in the middle of the school day, and came a few feet away from being run over by a pickup truck full of guys who chased me down and nearly mauled me as I walked home from a school dance.

'I reported it to the school, having saw each guy in the car, but they did nothing about it.

'A few months later, a group of guys in the school beat me within a few inches of my life. I missed the next 18 months of school recovering from three spinal surgeries and fractures to my face and ribs. I won’t even try here to explain the depths and extent of my physical and emotional pain, but it was brutal.

'I got some counseling for PTSD, learned the hard way that spinal surgeries leave a lasting impact, and finally found myself back on my feet.'

He also spoke about in an a taped interview.

High school sweethearts: King and his wife Rai. The couple have four children together

Back in the day: King and his wife when they were teenagers in high school

If true, the story would have remarkable similarities to that of Rachel Dolezal, the civil rights activist and NAACP head from Spokane, Washington who purposely mislead people about her racial background.

Oprah Winfrey paid my way through Morehouse. The leadership scholarship that I received from her is why I have a college degree today. Five hundred other brothers have the exact same story

Dolezal was forced to step down from her NAACP position and lost her job at a local university after the scandal broke.

She has maintained however that she identifies as black.

According to a 2011 profile of King; 'Shaun is married to his high school sweetheart, Rai, and they proudly home-school and travel with their four young children.'

However, an Atlanta Journal Constitution story from that same year says he has six children.

He cleared this up on Twitter however Wednesday, explaining; 'My wife & I have 3 birth children, we fully adopted our niece in '03, she's 15 now, + we have custody of our 2 y/o niece, Zayah.

'In addition to the 5 kids we have now, we've also had full custody, at one time or another, of 4 other nieces/nephews of ours.'

That Journal story also confirms his brother Russ - who is white - is serving overseas.

Individuals who have questioned King's race and the details of his attack in high school now claim he is blocking them from his feed.

Big names: King with Dr. Cornel West in a photo from taken at a Morehouse event

High School: A photo King posted from high school during his sophomore year

In a 2014 interview with Liberal America, King spoke about white privilege, and how best to get white Americans to understand the idea of white privilege.

'Some of how we get all people to understand privilege is simply to tell our story – one story at a time. I try to do that on Twitter and share stories of others I know,' he said.

'You can never truly understand how others feel, but at least being aware is a good start.'

A lot of who I am today all goes back to the discrimination that I faced in high school; it was so painful

As for his Oprah scholarship, he wrote in one Daily Kos post; 'Oprah Winfrey paid my way through Morehouse. The leadership scholarship that I received from her is why I have a college degree today.

'Five hundred other brothers have the exact same story.'

He also spoke of the racism he experienced growing up in an interview with Generation Progress just last month.

'A lot of who I am today all goes back to the discrimination that I faced in high school; it was so painful,' said King.

In a 2012 interview with Rebel magazine he said his mother was white and his father African-American, and that his father was not in his life growing up.

He was sure to add however; 'I had a really great childhood. It was rough at home sometimes. I didn’t really know that, though.

'We were probably lower middle-class, maybe worse sometimes. My mother did her best. The house was full of love. She was incredibly supportive.'

Vacation: King and his wife on a family trip

On Daily Kos, one writer came to King's defense over these allegations and his refusal to answer questions about his race.

'I do not care what earth-shattering evidence they claim to have uncovered,' wrote JoanMar.

'I do not care about his race. If he says he's black, then as far as I'm concerned, he's black. You do not get to have it both ways. You were the ones who invented the one drop rule; not Shaun.

'I do not care about him getting a scholarship that was intended for a minority. I only care about the work he's been doing on behalf of a besieged community.

It is abundantly clear that some do not like his message and so have decided to destroy the messenger. To do all they can to shut him up.