The founder and executive director of Black Lives Matter Lake County announced his resignation this week after a now-viral video circulated showing him in a physical altercation with a woman at the organization’s Waukegan resource center.
“I am actively seeking a community leader who can take over my role as executive director in order to carry on the mission of Black Lives Matter Lake County without any distractions,” Clyde McLemore told the Chicago Tribune.
The resignation stems from an incident on January 12 where Waukegan police responded the resource center following a 911 call; once on scene, McLemore told officers that Nyesha A. Hill, a contractor for the organization, had come to the office asking for payment and cigarettes and refused to leave.
“She come barging up in here. She throwed on me. We tussled,” McLemore told police.
“She says I owe her money,” McLemore said. “She want me to pull up the bank accounts. And I told her, ‘we got no money.’ I can’t tell you what we ain’t got. I work for it and you ain’t work for nothing. You ain’t brought in no money, I’m the one to bring in the money for you. This is my business.”
According to the report, McLemore detailed the financial support he had previously provided to Hill.
“I gave her $10,000 to go get an apartment, but she got a goddamn car,” McLemore said.
Hill shared a different account with officers, saying she confronted McLemore over alleged mismanagement of the organization’s funds and that he shoved her toward the door before the altercation began.
“I filled out paperwork for a couple of grants that we have due and I asked about the money and per usual, when I asked for money, we started fighting,” Hill told police.
Hill said the disagreement escalated after she pressed McLemore for answers about grant money she said was owed.
“I asked him, I said, ‘when did the money come?’” Hill told police. “He said, ‘it don’t matter. I ain’t giving you shit.’”
Hill alleged that McLemore misused funds intended for the organization, claiming that money from grants was spent on personal expenses, including gambling and relationships.
“I told him, it’s not fair that I come here and I work and you running around taking care of other things that don’t got nothing to do with Black Lives Matter, with Black Lives Matter money,” Hill told police. “I’m the one that makes this joint work. And he told he didn’t give a fu**. He wasn’t giving me nothing.”
When her requests for payment went unanswered, Hill said the disagreement turned physical.
“I told him, ‘Pay me for the work that I did do and I’ll leave,’” Hill told police. “And he stood up and told me, get the fuck out his office. And I thought, yeah, after you pay me. And the entire time I was standing there, I was sitting there right over left with my hands crossed, right over a left. And he pushed me in my chest and told me to get the out his office and we start tussling.”
Both parties accused each other of initiating physical contact, resulting in minor injuries. Hill said she sustained physical injuries, including a busted lip and broken nails, during the altercation.
Neither McLemore nor Hill pressed charges, although Hill filed a report and provided a witness statement.
“This happens every time I try to get funding,” Hill told police. “Like, my biggest thing is, he always attacks me when I acknowledge that you do stuff for things that are not Black Lives Matter related, and I stay here and work for free already.”
Police also reviewed surveillance footage of a previous altercation in late 2025, which similarly stemmed from disagreements over pay. Officers advised both individuals to avoid contact and informed them about obtaining protective orders.
Video from the October 2025 incident posted by the account LibsofTikTok on X, shows McLemore throwing a punch at Hill and then slamming her into a wall before she knocks him to the ground.
Nyesha A. Hill takes BLM Lake County founder Clyde McLemore to the ground during a physical altercation at the Waukegan resource center in October 2025. (X / LibsofTikTok)
The footage sparked immediate controversy, raising questions about internal management of BLM Lake County.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s failing the community that [McLemore] is trying to represent,” Roman Buchberger, candidate for Lake County Sheriff, told the Lake County Gazette. “It’s a bad look for them. It is bad for him.”
He added that such actions could not be tolerated.
“This kind of conduct isn’t acceptable,” Buchberger said.
The controversy intersects with the Lake County chapter’s history of funding.
In December 2021, Gov. J. B. Pritzker awarded $300,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds to Black Lives Matter Lake County as part of grants intended to decrease the “potential for violence in underserved and disproportionately impacted communities.”
McLemore has faced multiple legal challenges over the years.
Public records include a 2021 arrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for alleged battery of a police officer and disorderly conduct, along with earlier convictions and protection orders.
Hill also has prior criminal record, including a conviction for kidnapping.
