Tag: gofundme

Republicans Probe GoFundMe and Eventbrite Over Government Transaction Surveillance

The US House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government appears to be trying to dig deeper into the meaning of the subject matter it has been convened to explore.

Specifically – how some private financial entities, egged on by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) – a federal, US Department of Treasury agency – allegedly went on to essentially surveil clearly political terms like “Trump” and “MAGA” on platforms such as Eventbrite and GoFundMe.

The latter company’s purpose is self-evident – it’s a crowdsourcer – whereas Eventbrite is in a similar business, with a stress on event management and ticketing.

And that’s apparently how deep – and wide – government influence on digital platforms/companies went in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 events in Washington DC.

Now the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan wants to know what exactly was happening in these “spaces” at that time.

Keep reading

As Arrest Made, Murdered NYC Activist’s Pals Run GoFundMe To “Take Time Off Work”

Friends of murdered New York City liberal activist Ryan Thoresen Carson have created a GoFundMe page in which the “collective” solicits donations so they can take “time off of work” — and have already raked in $69,000. However, some donors are chipping in just for the privilege of leaving scathing comments. 

Carson was stabbed to death at 3:50 am on Monday in New York’s Bedfort-Stuyvesant neighborhood, as he and his girlfriend were returning from a Long Island wedding. They encountered an enraged young man who was kicking over parked mopeds and scooters before turning his rage on Carson, asking, “What the f*** are you looking at?  I’ll kill you!”

In video that captured the crime, Carson be heard repeatedly telling his assailant to “chill.” Carson was stabbed multiple times, including a fatal strike to his heart. (Note: Issuing orders to an enraged man is seldom a sound de-escalation strategy.)

On Thursday, NY cops arrested 18-year-old Brian Dowling — who lives near the crime scene on Lafayette Avenue near Malcom X Boulevard — and charged him with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. A search of Dowling’s apartment produced a sweatshirt matching the one that appears in security-camera video of the murder, along with a knife. He’d previously received summonses for disorderly conduct, and allegedly smashed items in his girlfriend’s apartment. In a 911 call, his aunt described him as mentally disturbed. 

Meanwhile, a self-identified “collective of Ryan’s close friends” is managing a GoFundMe account on behalf of themselves and Carson’s girlfriend Claudia Morales. However, rather than seeking funds for funeral and other final expenses, the group says they need the money “to eas[e] the burden and stress of this horrifying situation so that we can have space and time to grieve.” More pointedly, they say “immediate needs are to offset the costs of working class people taking time off of work to properly mourn.”

Keep reading

GoFundMe freezes donations for The Grayzone, sparking free speech debate

GoFundMe froze a fundraising campaign for the far-left news outlet The Grayzone due to “external concerns”, in the latest case to highlight the contentious role of tech companies in regulating controversial speech.

The Grayzone says it was unable to access more than $90,000 that about 1,100 contributors donated to support the work of three reporters.

Max Blumenthal, the founder and editor of The Grayzone, said the California-based crowdfunding company informed him in mid-August that he would not be allowed to transfer the donations pending a review of the fundraiser related to unspecified “external concerns”.

The donations were ultimately refunded to the donors after The Grayzone moved the fundraising campaign to a rival crowding funding platform.

Blumenthal said he believes the review was undertaken for “political reasons” related to the website’s coverage of the war in Ukraine.

“They only told me due to some external concerns, and I assume that someone would have to be fairly powerful to get GoFundMe to overlook the profit motive that usually governs companies like this to cancel a fundraiser that is extremely successful,” Blumenthal told Al Jazeera on Friday.

Blumenthal added that The Grayzone’s managing editor Wyatt Reed had similar problems with payment platforms Paypal and Venmo following his reporting on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

GoFundMe said that every fundraiser on its platform is subject to review and that The Grayzone was able to continue to solicit donations until it cancelled the fundraiser.

Keep reading

Canada’s new budget includes regulating crowdfunding after Freedom Convoy support

Canada’s new budget announced On April 8 includes restrictions on crowdfunding platforms and an investigation into cryptocurrency. The two provisions are some of the sanctions the government imposed under the Emergencies Act to stop the Freedom Convoy Protest.

While announcing the new budget, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that there would be stricter regulations for crowdfunding platforms and payments processors and a “legislative review” of cryptocurrency.

“In the last several months … there have been a number of high-profile examples — both around the world and here in Canada — where digital assets and cryptocurrencies have been used to avoid global sanctions and fund illegal activities,” the government said, citing the use of crypto to evade sanctions imposed to end the Freedom Convoy Protests.

Keep reading

Trudeau Government Threatens to Criminally Target Americans Who Donated to the Freedom Convoy 2022

The Trudeau government is now threatening Americans who donated to the massive GoFundMe to support the Freedom Convoy 2022.

The grassroots movement raised $10 million dollars until GoFundMe took it down and announced they would steal the donations and turn it over woke groups of their choosing. GoFundMe later backed down after several US Attorneys General announced they will open investigations on the radical leftist company.

On Monday Canadian officials said they will investigate Americans who donated to the Freedom Convoy 2022. They say they will look at “the intent” of the donors who were trying to undermine public safety. It’s not clear how they are going to prove intent of the donors but certainly, the FBI will be more than happy to help out.

Keep reading

GoFundMe Suspends Access to Millions of Dollars Raised for Canadian Truckers Protesting Vaccine Mandates

Big Tech fundraising platform GoFundMe has suspended access to millions of dollars raised to support Canadian truckers who are protesting against vaccine mandates.

The platform, of course, did not block fundraisers related to the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020.

Approximately $5 million Canadian dollars were raised to support the trucker’s efforts, which is roughly $4 million US.

There are roughly 50,000 trucks participating in the “Freedom Convoy 2022,” which is heading to Ottawa to protest a vaccine mandate that requires drivers to be vaccinated or face a 14-day quarantine after arriving from the US.

GoFundMe claims that the funds “will be safely held” until the Freedom Convoy provides the documents “about how funds will be properly distributed.”

“We require that fundraisers be transparent about the flow of funds and have a clear plan for how those funds will be spent. In this case, we are in touch with the organizer to verify that information,” the platform’s spokeswoman, Rachel Hollis, told CTV News.

The fundraiser clearly stated that the money would be used to help the drivers cover “the costs of fuel first, and hopefully food and lodgings” to “ease the pressures” of their “arduous task.”

Tamara Lich, the organizer of the GoFundMe, took to Facebook to tell supporters not to worry.

“I am working with GoFundMe, trust me, we got this covered,” she said.

Keep reading

GoFundMe Denied Rittenhouse Fundraising While Crowdsourcing Funds For BLM Rioters

The crowdsourced fundraising service GoFundMe sought to justify their early decision last year to terminate campaigns for Kyle Rittenhouse after the teen shooter was acquitted on all charges Friday.

“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service prohibit raising money for the legal defense of an alleged violent crime. In light of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, we want to clarify when and why we removed certain fundraisers in the past,” the platform wrote on Twitter with a link to a company statement.

Yet while Rittenhouse was denied crowdsourced funds for a political show trial charging the shooter with first-degree homicide in a case that was clearly self-defense, the website is still hosting campaigns soliciting donations for Black Lives Matter activists charged with violent crimes.

Keep reading

Turn snitch and get rich: Texas teen gives his own dad in to the FBI, pays his way through college

A Texas teenager has turned his father in to the FBI for taking part in the Capitol Hill riot, and pocketed tens of thousands of dollars from liberal admirers in the process.

When Jackson Reffitt’s father returned to the family home in Wylie, Texas, after the pro-Trump riot on Capitol Hill earlier this month, Jackson claimed that he warned his son to keep his mouth shut. “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor,” he reportedly said. “And you know what happens to traitors. Traitors get shot.”

However, Jackson had already reported the 48-year-old Guy Reffitt to the FBI, telling agents he thought his father was planning “something big” during the certification of election results at the capitol, per a New York Times article on Sunday. After the riot, Reffitt was identified in video footage from the Capitol, tracked down in Texas, and arrested, according to a sworn affidavit by an FBI agent.

Keep reading