Posted on 02/04/2022 6:05:57 PM PST by george76
GoFundMe says it won’t be giving the C$10 million ($8 million USD) raised to support the truckers protesting COVID-19 mandates to the organizers anymore, saying it will instead work with the organizers to send the funds to “established charities verified by GoFundMe.”
“To ensure GoFundMe remains a trusted platform, we work with local authorities to ensure we have a detailed, factual understanding of events taking place on the ground,” the fundraising platform said in a statement on Feb. 4.
“Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.”
GoFundMe added that it has “evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.”
John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) which is providing legal representation for the organizers, told The Epoch Times that the linking of protesters to violent or unlawful activity is unfounded.
“I would like to see what evidence there is,” Carpay said. “That’s political spin.”
Carpay said the organizers have maintained that the protests are peaceful.
“It’s a constitutional freedom to protest peacefully,” Carpay said.
He also said that it’s his understanding from people on the ground that people can move freely in Ottawa, and for example in a recent case an emergency vehicle was able to “rapidly race through the streets because the trucks were neatly parked off to the side.”
“They’re not obstructing the daily lives of people in Ottawa, and they’re committed to peace and non-violence,” he said.
The Epoch Times reached out to GoFundMe for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.
GoFundMe had earlier put a freeze in withdrawal of the funds as it undertook a review “to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations.”
Keith Wilson, a lawyer from JCCF representing the organizers, had said earlier at a Feb. 3 press conference that GoFundMe has been “bombarded with an orchestrated social media and other campaigns to try and shut [the fundraiser] down.”
Ottawa police have made a few arrests while the protesters remain in Ottawa. On Feb. 1, the Ottawa Police Service announced that it had charged one man with mischief under $5,000 and another man with carrying a weapon to a meeting. Police charged another man from Quebec while in Ottawa on Feb. 2 in relation to “threats and comments made on social media.” Police say there have been no injuries or riots during the protests.
“I have it on very reliable information that people from the movement were not associated, and that offences related to property damage, and just an assault this morning, committed by agitators were witnessed and reported by a trucker and one of our volunteer security personnel, which was reported to the police and handled by the Ottawa Police Service,” said Daniel Bulford, a former RCMP officer who worked as a sniper to protect the prime minister and is now helping the protest organizers, at the Feb. 3 press conference.
GoFundMe had earlier allowed withdrawal of C$1 million by the organizers to be used for expenses such as fuel and food for the protesters.
The trucker convoy demonstration initially started as a protest against the federal government’s requirement for truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border to have COVID-19 vaccination, but became a large movement as many across Canada opposing various COVID-19 mandates and restrictions joined the protest.
The convoy converged in Ottawa on Jan. 29, and many protesters have remained in the city, parking their trucks and vehicles by Parliament Hill.
The protesters say they will remain in the nation’s capital until the government removes COVID-19 mandates.
GoFundMe
Trusted platform indeed.
They stole the money and used it for another purpose.
I would never use Gofund me knowing they will do this.
Everybody who gave to the truckers should get lawyers and sue Gofundme one lawsuit at a time.
How is this possible? It sounds like outright theft. Wire fraud, in fact.
Charities like blm?
How is this even legal? The donors thought they were giving it to the truckers and GoFundMe was just the conduit. How can GoFundMe legally seize these finds and use them for its own purposes?
sue them and whoever takes the money for theft.
GoBrandonMe
Get your money back from GoFundMe and give it to GiveSendGo. It’s hard to get in because their servers are being hit hard.
They steal their money and claim to be trusted??
Can they becsued?
Eff these people...
The charity they will give it to is probably BLM
Is there some way we can request our money back? This is outrageous.
“How is this even legal?”
Can’t speak for Canada, but in the US, it’s PERFECTLY LEGAL, providing you get a Democrat judge making the ruling here.
Something to think about for people who think it nothing could be worse than RINOs (who voted at least 95% of the time for Trump’s judges, and possibly closer to 99%, compared to Manchin, who voted 0% of the time for Trump’s judges, when his vote was needed).
“ To ensure GoFundMe remains a trusted platform…”
Now that right there is the very peak of irony.
Sue the leftist sonsabitches.
Swear out a criminal complaint.
WTH ??
Class action lawsuit time. They know exactly who donated every penny and must return it.
.. and if none of that works, it’s worth some lamp posts.
Lets Go FundMe
Wow! clicked on this thinking it had to be a Babylon Bee article. This is wrong on so many levels I hope the gofundme exec are all personally liable
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