In an extraordinary action, national NAACP President Derrick Johnson has suspended for a year the membership of Frank J. Thornton, president of the Henrico Branch NAACP and son of Frank Thornton, chairman of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors.

The action hit with a complete surprise as Mr. Thornton publicly has been regarded as an active and energetic leader.

During his two-year tenure, the Henrico Branch has added new members and, according to Mr. Thornton, undertaken 36 initiatives on issues ranging from police actions and bus transportation to financial literacy and addiction. He also has frequently been quoted in news reports on county issues, including public education and spending on GRTC.

The suspension is on hold as Mr. Thornton appeals to the NAACP national membership committee and the national board.

Mr. Johnson stated he took the action after a three-member panel of national board members upheld a complaint from 20 Henrico Branch members, including past president Drusilla Bridgeforth, alleging that Mr. Thornton misused chapter funds and operated without consulting the chapter’s executive board.

The panel issued its recommendation after hearing Mr. Thornton’s rebuttal of the charges in a conference call on Nov. 28 and found against him on allegations that he said “are baseless and without merit.”

The Dec. 17 decision from the civil rights group’s national leader, if upheld at the national board’s February meeting, would effectively strip Mr. Thornton of his ability to participate in the organization or serve and seek re-election as the branch’s leader.

He would also have to petition the board for reinstatement after the suspension ends.

Separately, the national office in mid-November put an indefinite hold on the Henrico branch’s election of officers as Mr. Thornton’s case headed for a hearing. Mr. Thornton had been running for re-election.

“This is a sad reflection on this organization,” said Mr. Thornton, 49, an adjunct professor of educational technology at Virginia Union University, where his father previously taught French.

Mr. Thornton said that the evidence, which includes chapter minutes and copies of expenditure receipts that he provided to the hearing panel and the Free Press, refutes every allegation the 20 members filed against him and demonstrates that he has operated in an above-board manner in the best interests of the branch and the NAACP.

He also noted that Mr. Johnson’s action appears to violate national bylaws, which Mr. Thornton said state that the national president no longer has authority to suspend a member once a panel of the board hears a case and sends its recommendation to the national membership committee.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Mr. Thornton said.

The main complaint in the Article X complaint is that Mr. Thornton made unauthorized purchases with branch funds and has not accounted for payments made to a PayPal account set up for purchases of tickets to the Henrico Branch NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet.

The complaint lists seven expenditures that Mr. Thornton allegedly undertook without authority. Four are for bill payments of less than $100, which Mr. Thornton had been authorized by the executive committee to pay without seeking their permission.

According to Mr. Thornton and branch records, one payment of $118.26 was for refreshments provided at two approved branch events, a public safety forum and a youth opioid workshop, and another for $200 represented a deposit on space for the branch’s approved Women in the NAACP event, which was refunded after the Women of Elegance Awards program was moved to another location.

The final item, $1,010, represents reimbursement for itemized expenses Mr. Thornton incurred while attending the 2017 NAACP national convention. Minutes show that the executive committee approved the payment in an online survey in December and at committee meetings in January and April.

Mr. Thornton said he had the branch’s bank issue a $1,000 cashier’s check that cost $10 after branch Treasurer Gail Jones rejected the committee’s decision and refused to issue payment. Ms. Jones is one of the complainants. Emails between Ms. Jones and Mr. Thornton reflect the dispute.

In response to a Free Press request for comment, Ms. Jones said that she is referring all such requests to the national office.

“All of the spending was documented,” Mr. Thornton said. “I haven’t taken a dime. All the money was spent on behalf of the chapter or on approved items.”

Mr. Thornton also dismissed the allegation that payments to the chapter’s PayPal account for Freedom Fund tickets were not accounted for.

In his rebuttal, he stated that Ms. Jones could have a complete accounting simply by going into the account and downloading the information that PayPay accumulates. She has not done so, he stated, but instead has publicly accused Mr. Thornton of diverting the money. He called that “a blatant lie.”

The complaint also alleges that there is no record of contributions from some of those listed as patrons and supporters in an online souvenir journal for the banquet.

Mr. Thornton said he shifted to an online souvenir journal after finding a physical journal was ineffective and to reduce costs. He said money received from people who contributed was deposited into the branch’s account. He also noted that many of the people listed contributed in-kind support rather than dollars.

He also is alleged to have used the online “Survey Monkey” site to allow the executive committee to vote on issues during weeks when meetings were not scheduled, though that does not appear to violate any of the NAACP’s rules.

Mr. Thornton joined the NAACP four years ago and was elected chapter president in 2016.

“Under my leadership,” he wrote in his appeal of the Article X complaint, “I have transformed the Henrico NAACP into a credible social justice organization that is respected.”

He said those who signed the Article X complaint seeking his removal involve individuals “who have not participated in doing work on committees, workshops, raising funds, bringing in new members, lobbying, changing policy or handling complaints.”