Earlier this week, GoFundMe pulled the plug on a campaign that was dedicated to South Carolina police officer, Michael Slager, after he was charged for the murder of an unarmed man, Walter L. Scott. The charges were filed after a video of the event revealed Slager shooting Scott in the back as he ran away from the officer.
The campaign on GoFundMe, which was shut down just a few hours after its launch, was seeking to raise funds for Slager’s defense. Creators explained the fundraising was for Slager to be able to afford the “proper” lawyer for the situation. The crowdfunding platform, which is known for allowing controversial campaigns, terminated the project.
GoFundMe’s public relations manager, Kelsea Little confirmed in an email to ThinkProgress:
“After review by our team, the campaign set up for Officer Slager was removed from GoFundMe due to a violation of our Terms and Conditions.”
Little went on to explain that terms and conditions that were breached were not disclosed due to privacy protection. She added that details about the campaigns may only be discussed with their organizers. Refusing to give up on “the cause,” the campaign’s organizer turned to reward-based crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo, which initially approved of the campaign.
Although it managed to find a spot on the platform, Indiegogo has since announced that the campaign has been shut down (for the second time). According to Ars Technica, the “Michael T. Slager Support Fund,” no longer exists, and its page was replaced on Friday by a generic 404 page with no explanation.
In a statement to Ars Technica, 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.”
Since its campaign’s removal from Indiegogo, the creator has deleted the Twitter account as well.
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