GoFundMe has removed three fundraisers from the platform intended to pay the legal fees of one of the men convicted of taking part in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
Supporters of William “Roddie” Bryan, one of three white men convicted this month in the killing of the 25-year-old black man jogging in their Georgia neighborhood last year, created fundraisers to pay for his appeal, but they were removed due to the platform’s stance against aiding people charged with violent crimes, the platform said Friday.
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“We removed three fundraisers for William ‘Roddie’ Bryan before any funds were raised,” a GoFundMe spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “GoFundMe prohibits raising money for the legal defense of a violent crime.”
Bryan’s lawyer decried the move on Facebook.
“The right to counsel, a guarantee enshrined in our Constitution, means little if ordinary people like Roddie Bryan cannot raise funds for their own defense — and that includes the right to raise funds for an appeal,” attorney Kevin Gough wrote. “The cancellation of legitimate online efforts to raise funds for Roddie Bryan is simply the latest manifestation of a woke left mob mentality that relentlessly seeks to undermine the institutions of our government.”
A woman claiming to be Bryan’s fiance started one of the deleted fundraisers, which reportedly sought to raise $300,000.
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“Roddie had no weapon that day, only his cell phone, to which no one would have known what happened that day without it,” she wrote according to News 4 JAX. “He also turned it over to the police on the scene and cooperated fully throughout the investigation. Please help anyway you can to #FreeRoddie #IStandWithRoddie.”
Bryan was convicted on two counts of felony murder, one count of false imprisonment, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony. He filmed the encounter as Travis and Gregory McMichael chased and shot Arbery. The McMichaels claimed they were trying to make a citizen’s arrest and thought Arbery was stealing.
GoFundMe also recently removed fundraisers for the suspect in the Waukesha Christmas parade attack. It reinstated fundraisers for Kyle Rittenhouse after he was acquitted in his homicide trial.
