SF-Based Indiegogo Hosts Crowdfunding For Defense Of Cop Accused In South Carolina Murder
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco crowdfunding site Indiegogo is hosting a fundraiser to help pay for the defense of a police officer caught on camera gunning down an unarmed black man in South Carolina - after a rival site rejected the attempt.
According to the Michael T. Slager Support Fund on Indiegogo:
We're campaigning to show our Support for Officer Michael T. Slager! We believe in all of our LEOs and want to publicly support them! Although he may have made mis-steps in judgement he was protecting the community. Michael is a former Coast Guardsman with two stepchildren and a wife who is expecting a child, served for more than five years with the department without being disciplined. Please help in any way you can. He has served five years with the department without being disciplined.
Slager was charged with murder after a video surfaced of him firing multiple shots at a man who was running away. The footage contradicted the white officer's account of his confrontation with suspect Walter Scott who died at the scene.
GoFundMe, based in San Diego, blocked the group from raising money on its site, according to published reports.
GoFundMe told Mashable the page was removed because it violated the site's terms and conditions, one of which includes a ban on "campaigns in defense of formal charges of heinous crimes, including violent, hateful, or sexual acts."
The Slager support fund also has a Twitter account and a Facebook page, where it states:
If our actions have mislead anyone let me be clear, this site is to support a man that in our system of justice is innocent until proven guilty. I do not or will not support ANY criminal activity!! We are only lobbying for competent council and a fair trial for a family man who has served his country and community honorably.
In a statement sent to KPIX 5, an Indiegogo spokesman said, "Indiegogo allows anyone, anywhere to fund ideas that matter to them and just like other open platforms -- such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter -- we don't judge the content of campaigns as long as they are in compliance with our Terms of Use."
As of Thursday afternoon, the campaign had raised over $1,000 for Slager's defense out of its $5,000 goal. The campaign is scheduled to end June 6.