We are pretty sure this story never made it on the Facebook Trending timeline...
One of the leaders of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Charles Wade, was arrested on human trafficking and prostitution charges during an April sting operation in Maryland, according to multiple press reports. As HeatSt.com reports, Wade, the co-founder of Operation Help (sometimes known as "Hush") is accused of forcing a 17-year-old girl into prostitution. Wade issued a statement on Twitter Wednesday afternoon blaming "conservative trolls" for the unfairly spreading the story, which he claims is mostly false (just the first paragraph tip?). He says that he was arrested because he was "too trusting."
As The WashingtonTimes reports,
Mr. Wade was arrested at a Howard Johnson Inn in College Park, Maryland, on April 25. Police said he was residing in a motel room where he allegedly pimped a 17-year-old girl, The Daily Caller reported Thursday.
Mr. Wade was held on seven counts relating to felony human trafficking and prostitution. He was bailed out shortly after his arrest, according to a statement he released on Twitter Wednesday.
He was arrested as part of a sting operation in which an undercover officer responded to an ad Mr. Wade allegedly placed for a 23-year-old woman on backpage.com, a website frequently used by sex traffickers and prostitutes, The Daily Caller reported.
Investigators said the woman, who turned out to be a 17-year-old girl, called Mr. Wade her manager. She said he knew she was a minor but wasn’t worried because of her upcoming birthday. She also told investigators that she provided all the money she earned to Mr. Wade, The Daily Caller reported.
Of course it was not his fault, explaining on social media that "I am not a pimp, never have been."
Mr. Wade told The Daily Caller that he was unfairly arrested because he was “too trusting” of a female tenant whom he was temporarily housing as part of his Operation Help or Hush charity.
His statement posted on Twitter blamed conservative “trolls” for attempting to smear him with the story of his arrest.
“For the past two to three days, ‘trolls’ have been actively baiting conservative news outlets to report on my arrest, amongst other vindictive things that they are actively working on,” he wrote. “I am confident that I will be cleared of the charges I am currently facing.”
Wade, No. 40 on The Root’s 100 most influential black activists, was also invited Tuesday by the White House to a movie screening with other Black Lives Matter activists. He said he did not attend, The Daily Caller reported.