Have any legitimate activist groups accused Steven Monacelli of racism

1. What the public accusations are and where they appeared

In March and October 2023 the Dallas Express published pieces reporting that a group calling itself Dallas Justice Now had accused Steven Monacelli of being a “racist white vigilante” and of targeting activists with racist harassment and conspiracy theories, citing statements from DJN leaders ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Who Dallas Justice Now actually is, according to follow‑up reporting

Independent reporting summarized on Monacelli’s site and cited from the Texas Observer later concluded DJN was part of a manufactured operation: Monty Bennett, a Republican donor and publisher of the Dallas Express, hired a marketing firm, Crowds on Demand, that created groups and used paid actors to pose as activists — including DJN — to push conservative talking points ^[3].

3. Why that matters to the question of “legitimate activist groups”

If an organization accusing someone of racism is a front created and staffed by an outside firm contracted by a partisan donor, then its claim differs materially from an allegation made by an organic, community‑based civil rights or social justice organization; the reporting cited here explicitly frames DJN as a project of Crowds on Demand and ties it to Bennett’s political aims ^[3]. That context undermines DJN’s claim to be a bona fide grassroots activist group in the sense ordinary readers would understand the term ^[3].

4. The role of the Dallas Express and the legal aftermath

The Dallas Express — funded and published by Monty Bennett — published the DJN accusations and other articles alleging Monacelli’s misconduct; Monacelli has described those allegations as defamatory and Bennett sued Monacelli unsuccessfully for defamation in a related dispute, according to Monacelli’s account and the reporting summarized on his site ^[3]. Those details show the accusations were amplified through media tied to the same donor implicated in creating DJN ^[3].

5. Monacelli’s response and record of advocacy

Monacelli has publicly denied the allegations of racism and domestic abuse, has characterized the claims as false and defamatory, and his reporting and professional affiliations include work on anti‑racist causes and investigations into extremism and disinformation ^{[3] [4]}. The supplied reporting also documents his journalistic work and affiliations with outlets such as the Texas Observer ^[4].

6. Limits of the available reporting and alternative readings

The supplied sources document that DJN accused Monacelli and that later reporting described DJN as a manufactured group tied to Bennett and Crowds on Demand, but they do not provide a comprehensive audit of every activist organization in Dallas or nationwide; absent additional sources, it cannot be affirmed from this reporting that mainstream, community‑rooted activist organizations beyond DJN have leveled similar accusations ^{[3] [1] [2]}. Other outlets referenced Monacelli’s investigative work and legal disputes but do not show independent civil‑rights groups formally accusing him of racism in the supplied material ^{[4] [5]}.

7. Bottom line: what the evidence supports

Based on the supplied reporting, an organization calling itself Dallas Justice Now did accuse Steven Monacelli of racism and harassment in 2023 and those accusations were published in the Dallas Express ^{[1] [2]}, but subsequent investigative pieces documented that DJN appears to have been part of a manufactured influence campaign tied to Dallas Express publisher Monty Bennett and Crowds on Demand, calling DJN’s legitimacy as an activist group into serious question ^[3]. The documentation provided does not show credible, independent activist groups making similar accusations.