When donors pledged money to support the protesting truckers in Canada’s Freedom Convoy, they believed their hard-earned money would be given to truckers who are protesting vaccine mandates in their home country. Now, GoFundMe says it is seizing $9,000,000 from the fund and giving it to other groups instead.
Groups such as Black Lives Matter? Greenpeace? Planned Parenthood?
Today, the company said it is suspending the fundraiser because it has deemed the protest an “occupation”.
“GoFundMe supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created,” the company said. “We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.”
GoFundMe claims it received that information from local authorities.
“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 company said. “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.”
Organizers provided a clear distribution plan for the initial $1M that was released earlier this week and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest.
Fears that the money will go to groups such as pro-liberal and left-wing entities so far are unfounded. Instead, GoFundMe says it is working with the Freedom Convoy to disperse those funds to other groups they approve of.
“Given how this situation has evolved, no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers — we will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers and verified by GoFundMe,” th e company said.
If you donated money and want it returned, that’s also an option. If you’d like GoFundMe to refund a donation made to the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser, please use this form. You can learn more here.