In a tumultuous incident that has caught the attention of many, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter in Illinois found himself embroiled in a heated altercation with a colleague. This intense confrontation, involving Clyde J. McLemore and project manager Nyesha A. Hill, was captured on camera and has raised questions about the internal dynamics of the organization.
The altercation, which escalated to physical shoving and grappling, unfolded at the Black Lives Matter Lake County Resource Center. Police in Waukegan, Illinois, were summoned to the scene on January 12 following reports of a physical dispute within the group’s headquarters.
Details from surveillance footage and official police reports paint a vivid picture of a disagreement that rapidly turned violent between McLemore and Hill. The conflict reportedly stemmed from a disagreement over financial matters, a claim both parties have acknowledged.
According to information obtained by the Lake and McHenry County Scanner, McLemore recounted to the police that Hill barged into his office as he was working on his computer, aggressively demanding money and cigarettes. This confrontation, coupled with the allegations of financial mismanagement, has cast a spotlight on the internal workings of the organization.
Both said the fight came following a dispute about money.
According to a police report obtained by the Lake and McHenry County Scanner, McLemore told responding officers that Hill stormed into his office while he was working on his computer and began demanding money and cigarettes.
He said he told her that he had neither and asked her to leave.
Body-camera footage shows McLemore telling officers that the organization ‘ain’t got no money,’ adding that funds from a grant had already been spent.
Black Lives Matter Lake County founder Clyde McLemore was involved in a physical fight with project manager Nyesha A. Hill at the group’s Waukegan, Illinois office
Surveillance video from the Black Lives Matter Lake County Resource Center shows McLemore and Hill grappling with each other in a corridor inside the building
Black Lives Matter Lake County founder Clyde McLemore is seen giving his side of the story to officers from the Waukegan Police
‘That money is gone,’ McLemore said in the footage, referring to the grant.
McLemore told police he put on his jacket to leave the office when the situation escalated.
According to the police report, he said Hill grabbed him by the hood and struck him in the face, setting off a struggle between the two.
The pair began pushing and shoving each other around the office before McLemore ultimately called 911.
Officers observed that McLemore had visible injuries, including a scratch on his forehead and lip.
Despite the injuries, he told police he did not want to press charges.
When officers interviewed Hill, she gave a sharply different version of events – one that centered on allegations about the organization’s finances.
Hill told police she works for McLemore as a project manager and had gone into his office to ask why she had not been paid.
Project manager Nyesha A. Hill told officers she confronted McLemore about why she had not been paid for her work
The footage captures the two shoving and grabbing each other as the dispute spills out of an office and into the hallway. Here, Hill managed to get McLemore on the floor
At one point in the corridor confrontation, the pair can be seen pushing each other backward and forward during the struggle
According to body camera footage cited in the report, Hill told officers she confronted McLemore about how money connected to Black Lives Matter was being used.
‘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 said, according to the footage.
‘I’m the one that make this joint work,’ she added.
Hill told officers she refused to leave the office until she received the money she said she was owed.
She alleged the fight began when McLemore got up from his chair and pushed her with his hands in an attempt to force her out of the room.
Hill said the confrontation quickly escalated into a physical struggle between the two.
Police observed that Hill had a scratch on her lip and several broken fingernails after the fight.
Like McLemore, Hill also declined to pursue charges.
She told officers she ‘does not want to see a black man in jail,’ but asked that a police report and witness statement be taken.
Because both individuals had injuries and their accounts of the altercation conflicted, officers said they did not have probable cause to make an arrest.
McLemore told police Hill entered his office demanding money and cigarettes before the confrontation escalated leaving papers all over the floor
In bodycam footage, Hill accused McLemore of spending Black Lives Matter funds on things unrelated to the organization
The surveillance recording shows the altercation unfolding in the hallway area of the organization’s Waukegan headquarters with McLemore seen on the floor
The hallway altercation appeared to stem from an argument about money
McLemore serves as Founder and Executive Director of Black Lives Matter Lake County. He has previously served 40 days in jail
Instead, police advised both parties to avoid contact and informed them about how to obtain an order of protection.
The January confrontation was not the only violent clash between the two captured on video.
Police later obtained surveillance footage showing a separate physical fight between Hill and McLemore inside the same office months earlier.
Authorities said the earlier video shows another struggle between the pair that also stemmed from a dispute about money. It remains unclear exactly when that incident occurred.
Hill told police the video was from November 24, while McLemore said it happened on November 2. The timestamp on the recording itself lists October 24.
Detectives obtained the footage after responding to the January 12 incident.
When investigators later spoke to McLemore about the earlier altercation, he told them his office surveillance system only retains footage for about two months and that he did not have a copy of the recording.
He also told detectives there was no surveillance video of the January fight because the altercation occurred inside his office, which is not covered by cameras.
The footage and body-camera recordings also captured Hill telling officers that the pair had clashed repeatedly over finances tied to the organization.
According to the footage, Hill told officers she frequently argued with McLemore over not being paid for her work while she struggled to support her child.
In her statement to police, Hill also alleged that she had seen McLemore spend money intended for Black Lives Matter activities on other things, including ‘girls’ and gambling.
Clyde McLemore told officers the confrontation began after he refused Hill’s demand for money. He is pictured here in 2021
During the corridor clash, the two can be seen lunging toward each other as the argument turns physical
The footage captures the pair clutching at each other’s clothing during the struggle in the corridor
Court records show the dispute later spilled into the legal system.
McLemore subsequently went to the Lake County Courthouse and obtained an emergency stalking no-contact order against Hill.
Both individuals involved in the altercation have prior legal histories.
Court records show McLemore was sentenced in October 2024 to 40 days in jail for taking photographs inside the Lake County Circuit Court and posting them online in violation of courthouse rules.
He later posted a video acknowledging the incident and saying, ‘I do what I want to do.’
McLemore has also previously been arrested for trespassing during a Waukegan City Council meeting in October 2022 and for participating in civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in February 2021.
Hill also has a criminal history with records showing she was previously charged in a kidnapping case in Zion in June 2020 in which prosecutors alleged she and an accomplice beat a victim and demanded a ransom for his release.
She was later sentenced to more than four years in prison in that case.
McLemore currently serves as a member of the Lake County Regional Board of School Trustees while also leading the Black Lives Matter Lake County chapter.
