Quote:A fundraiser for a man who was physically attacked at a recent free speech demonstration in San Francisco has disappeared from the GoFundMe website, as several patrons say their donations have been refunded.

The campaign was created to benefit Philip Anderson, 25, who organized a rally on October 17 under the banner of an obscure organization called Team Save America. They assembled at United Nations Plaza downtown to condemn Big Tech censorship, blocks away from Twitter’s headquarters.

According to the Associated Press, “members of the group wore red ‘Make America Great Again’ Trump campaign hats and carried pro-police ‘Thin Blue Line’ flags and U.S. flags.” The outlet reported the event “quickly fell apart…after several hundred counterprotesters surged the area, outnumbering and attacking those gathered, including knocking (Anderson) in the mouth.”

Bloody images of Anderson went viral, amplified by several conservative social media influencers. Video and pictures showed he was missing a front tooth while the other dangled from the socket. Anderson concluded, “Antifa knocked my teeth out.”

YouTube personality Adam Crigler created a GoFundMe drive to “help Philip Anderson fix his teeth.” But on Friday, that fundraiser was removed from the company’s website.

Anderson’s father, Vic, reportedly contacted a television journalist in the Bay Area and said GoFundMe had “banned” his son from its platform.

“They shut down the campaign that was successfully raising funds for his dental expenses and are not allowing withdrawal of the money,” the elder Anderson wrote in an email shared by ABC 7 investigative reporter Dan Noyes. “As a result, 1300 donors are not able to complete their commitments to assisting with medical bills.”

An internet archive of the campaign webpage shows it had raised more than $27,000, categorized as a fund for “Accidents & Emergencies.”

However, progressive groups encouraged allies to report the GoFundMe campaign for fraud after its organizer saidAnderson would use part of the funds raised “to host another Free Speech Rally and continue his fight!”

Several Twitter users indicated their donations were returned on Friday. According to GoFundMe’s website, a team of “Trust & Safety specialists” protect donors from potential scams and other concerns. “In the rare case that something isn’t right, we will refund your donation,” the company guarantees.

Neither Mr. Crigler nor GoFundMe immediately responded to inquiries from The Daily Wire asking why the donations had been returned.

“For the record, I was the only one who set this up,” Crigler tweeted on Friday, acknowledging the progressive strategy to shut down his campaign. “Every penny would have gone to Philip for his Teeth. They are banding together and @gofundme took down my fundraiser. Nothing about this fundraiser was fraud.”

Last week, San Francisco police arrested a 35-year-old suspect in the attack on Anderson. KGO News identified the man as “a Black Lives Matter activist” named Adroa Anderson. He was booked on charges of mayhem and hate crime enhancement.

Three police officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries at the rally after being “assaulted with pepper spray and caustic chemicals,” the AP reported.

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This seems like a good case for a lawsuit against GoFundMe....

Well, he can get a civil judgement against his attacker and garnish his wages if he ever gets a job.

(10-26-2020 12:05 PM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  

Quote:A fundraiser for a man who was physically attacked at a recent free speech demonstration in San Francisco has disappeared from the GoFundMe website, as several patrons say their donations have been refunded.

The campaign was created to benefit Philip Anderson, 25, who organized a rally on October 17 under the banner of an obscure organization called Team Save America. They assembled at United Nations Plaza downtown to condemn Big Tech censorship, blocks away from Twitter’s headquarters.

According to the Associated Press, “members of the group wore red ‘Make America Great Again’ Trump campaign hats and carried pro-police ‘Thin Blue Line’ flags and U.S. flags.” The outlet reported the event “quickly fell apart…after several hundred counterprotesters surged the area, outnumbering and attacking those gathered, including knocking (Anderson) in the mouth.”

Bloody images of Anderson went viral, amplified by several conservative social media influencers. Video and pictures showed he was missing a front tooth while the other dangled from the socket. Anderson concluded, “Antifa knocked my teeth out.”

YouTube personality Adam Crigler created a GoFundMe drive to “help Philip Anderson fix his teeth.” But on Friday, that fundraiser was removed from the company’s website.

Anderson’s father, Vic, reportedly contacted a television journalist in the Bay Area and said GoFundMe had “banned” his son from its platform.

“They shut down the campaign that was successfully raising funds for his dental expenses and are not allowing withdrawal of the money,” the elder Anderson wrote in an email shared by ABC 7 investigative reporter Dan Noyes. “As a result, 1300 donors are not able to complete their commitments to assisting with medical bills.”

An internet archive of the campaign webpage shows it had raised more than $27,000, categorized as a fund for “Accidents & Emergencies.”

However, progressive groups encouraged allies to report the GoFundMe campaign for fraud after its organizer saidAnderson would use part of the funds raised “to host another Free Speech Rally and continue his fight!”

Several Twitter users indicated their donations were returned on Friday. According to GoFundMe’s website, a team of “Trust & Safety specialists” protect donors from potential scams and other concerns. “In the rare case that something isn’t right, we will refund your donation,” the company guarantees.

Neither Mr. Crigler nor GoFundMe immediately responded to inquiries from The Daily Wire asking why the donations had been returned.

“For the record, I was the only one who set this up,” Crigler tweeted on Friday, acknowledging the progressive strategy to shut down his campaign. “Every penny would have gone to Philip for his Teeth. They are banding together and @gofundme took down my fundraiser. Nothing about this fundraiser was fraud.”

Last week, San Francisco police arrested a 35-year-old suspect in the attack on Anderson. KGO News identified the man as “a Black Lives Matter activist” named Adroa Anderson. He was booked on charges of mayhem and hate crime enhancement.

Three police officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries at the rally after being “assaulted with pepper spray and caustic chemicals,” the AP reported.

Link

This seems like a good case for a lawsuit against GoFundMe....

The question is - did Crigler actually state that the funds would be used to "host another Free Speech Rally and continue his fight" and is there evidence of that statement? He states in the article that all funds would be for Anderson's teeth, but the statement that he will use the funds for another rally are in quotes in the article, which would at least indicate that he said exactly that.

If he did actually state that, then it would definitely appear to be a violation of Gofundme's policy listed below:

Examples of Fraud
The following examples are expressly forbidden fraudulent activity:

Breaking the law
Lying or being misleading about your identity as a GoFundMe organizer or your relationship to the beneficiary of the funds
Posting misleading statements in the fundraiser description
Not delivering funds to the stated beneficiary
Not using funds for their stated purpose