Making sure to end controversy before it even starts, crowdfunding giant Indiegogo quickly shut down a new campaign that was dedicated to Oklahoma reserve deputy Robert Bates, who is currently being investigated for fatally shooting 44-year-old Eric Harris.
Time reports that Bates stated he mistook his hand gun for a stun gun when he fired live ammunition at Harris, but was seen on a video being pursued by the police officer dated April 2nd.
Following the footage being exposure to the public eye on Tuesday, the now suspended campaign, which was launched by an anonymous user, was seeking to raise $25,000 for a legal defense. The initiative’s description read, “Help us end the vicious attacks on police.”
Stating the reason why the platform pulled the campaign, an Indiegogo spokesperson revealed:
“Our trust and safety team regularly conducts verifications and this campaign is currently suspended pending review.”
Although no backers gave to the campaign, Indiegogo’s other reasoning for the suspension might have been due to the recent issues it experienced when another initiative for South Carolina officer, Michael T. Slager, was launched.
While GoFundMe pulled the plug on a campaign that was dedicated Slager, the campaign’s organizer took to Indiegogo and was allowed to collect funding for a few days. During that time, the initiative only collected $1,000 but received a ton of criticism.
Indiegogo confirmed that the campaign “did not meet” the standards of the platform’s Trust and Safety Team.
Before removing the campaign, Indiegogo stated,
“We don’t judge the content of campaigns as long as they are in compliance with our Terms of Use.”
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