(RNS) — The Rev. William J. Barber II’s ex-wife has asked a judge to look into allegations that the civil rights and anti-poverty leader has been paying her alimony from the finances of his nonprofit.
Barber, who has been leading “Moral Mondays at the Capitol” to oppose the federal budget bill and was arrested as part of those demonstrations last month, is president of Repairers of the Breach, a nonprofit social change organization based in North Carolina.
In a court filing in in Durham County, North Carolina, Rebecca Barber, the preacher’s ex-wife, alleges that since November 2023, Repairers of the Breach has issued William Barber monthly checks for $7,000 to a joint personal bank account shared by Barber and his ex-wife, “under the guise of alimony or financial support.” Rebecca Barber alleges this check is above and beyond Barber’s annual salary. She asked that Repairers of the Breach be treated as a third party — like another spouse — in the Barbers’ ongoing dispute over property division.
Barber divorced his wife of 37 years in November 2024 after separating in 2022. The couple went through mediation to settle parts of the divorce, including alimony, in a p …