After a jury declared Friday that Kyle Rittenhouse – an 18-year-old who faced homicide charges – not guilty, the fundraising website GoFundMe issued a statement for why it pulled fundraisers for him in the past.
Rittenhouse shot at three men and killed two of them during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisc., last summer, a few months after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. Members of the 12-person jury found Rittenhouse not guilty on six charges related to the incident. This verdict cannot be appealed.
GoFundMe is a website created in 2010 that allows users to set up fundraising pages and accept donations. Founders of the for-profit company sold it in 2015.
According to GoFundMe, it is company policy to remove all fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of alleged violent criminals.
“Once charges for a violent crime were brought against Kyle Rittenhouse in 2020, GoFundMe removed fundraisers that were started for the defendant’s legal defense,” said the company’s statement. “We did this as part of our regular monitoring efforts; in addition to those fundraisers, our Trust & Safety team removed hundreds of other fundraisers between August and December 2020 – unrelated to Rittenhouse – that we determined were in violation of this long-standing policy.”
If an alleged violent criminal is acquitted, as Rittenhouse was on Friday, a fundraiser could be set up to cover legal expenses the accrued, the company explained.
“A fundraiser to pay lawyers, cover legal expenses or to help with ongoing living expenses for a person acquitted of those charges could remain active as long as we determine it is not in violation of any of our other terms and, for example, the purpose is clearly stated and the correct beneficiary is added to the fundraiser,” said the GoFundMe statement.
As of Friday, the company said it was monitoring for fundraisers related to Rittenhouse to try to verify that the funds are going to the intended recipient. Since that process takes time, it could slow down the withdrawal process.
“If the fundraiser does violate our Terms of Service or does not directly benefit the intended beneficiary, we will remove it from the platform,” GoFundMe said.
Social media users, especially right-leaning accounts such as Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, began posting about GoFundMe after the company released its statement.
“We are an open platform with a clear mission to help people help each other. People on all sides of various issues can use the platform to raise funds for many different things. We don’t always share the beliefs of every user,” said the company.
Related
Related
