Billions of dollars raised for ICE agent, but funds may be tainted by extremist ties.
A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family of Renee Nicole Good, an African American mother who was killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis last week, has been overshadowed by another fundraising effort for the same ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, whose actions have raised questions about his use of deadly force.
A rival GoFundMe campaign created by an account linked to Clyde Emmons, a Michigan man whose Facebook profile picture features an image widely considered to be a Nazi salute, has pulled in nearly half a million dollars. The campaign was initially launched with the intention of raising money for Ross but quickly became associated with extremist views and racist language.
One of the donors to the campaign is billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who donated $10,000 on Saturday. Ackman shared a post from a right-wing influencer about the fundraiser for Ross and confirmed in a Sunday post that he had made the donation. However, it's not clear whether Ackman was aware of the extremist ties of the campaign organizer.
GoFundMe is investigating the campaign and has stated that any funds raised will be held until further notice. The company prohibits fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of violent crimes or those related to terrorism, extremism, hate violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorist financing, extremist financing, or money laundering.
Critics argue that Ackman's donation may have perpetuated a system where wealthy individuals support politicians who use deadly force. Others question whether the campaign organizer's extremist views are sufficient grounds for the GoFundMe to remove the funds from the campaign.
Ackman has been an outspoken critic of what he alleged was antisemitism on American university campuses but his alignment with certain extreme-right groups has raised concerns among critics.
A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family of Renee Nicole Good, an African American mother who was killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis last week, has been overshadowed by another fundraising effort for the same ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, whose actions have raised questions about his use of deadly force.
A rival GoFundMe campaign created by an account linked to Clyde Emmons, a Michigan man whose Facebook profile picture features an image widely considered to be a Nazi salute, has pulled in nearly half a million dollars. The campaign was initially launched with the intention of raising money for Ross but quickly became associated with extremist views and racist language.
One of the donors to the campaign is billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who donated $10,000 on Saturday. Ackman shared a post from a right-wing influencer about the fundraiser for Ross and confirmed in a Sunday post that he had made the donation. However, it's not clear whether Ackman was aware of the extremist ties of the campaign organizer.
GoFundMe is investigating the campaign and has stated that any funds raised will be held until further notice. The company prohibits fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of violent crimes or those related to terrorism, extremism, hate violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorist financing, extremist financing, or money laundering.
Critics argue that Ackman's donation may have perpetuated a system where wealthy individuals support politicians who use deadly force. Others question whether the campaign organizer's extremist views are sufficient grounds for the GoFundMe to remove the funds from the campaign.
Ackman has been an outspoken critic of what he alleged was antisemitism on American university campuses but his alignment with certain extreme-right groups has raised concerns among critics.
This whole situation is wild 
, like, who donates to a fundraiser for an ICE agent and then gets all connected to some extremist stuff 
? I mean, GoFundMe's gotta do its thing, but it's kinda hard not to wonder if Ackman even knew about that racist stuff 
. And what's up with the fact that the campaign got over half a million bucks 
? It's like people are just so quick to throw their money at controversy without thinking twice 
. And it's not just the money that's the problem, it's the influence these folks have on the system. It's like they're perpetuating a cycle of violence and hate 
. GoFundMe needs to do a better job vetting donors and making sure funds aren't being used for shady purposes 
.
this is super messed up... a gofundme campaign set up for a family of someone killed by an ice officer, and then another one comes along that's basically run by a white nationalist dude and raises more cash than the first one 
. Like, seriously can't these people just be honest about who they are and what they stand for? Clyde Emmons' profile picture is literally a Nazi salute 
... how did Bill Ackman not know that?! He's always going on about being an ally to the Jewish community but it looks like he's just using his money to whitewash his own extremist views 
. This is exactly what we need more of - the wealthy and powerful getting a free pass for their hypocrisy 
.
And what really gets me is how this campaign organizer has ties to extremist groups. Can't GoFundMe do better than that? 
. And what's up with this dude Clyde Emmons' Facebook profile picture, it's straight out of a horror movie 
. Anyway, I'm all for transparency and accountability, so I hope GoFundMe gets to the bottom of this and doesn't just sweep it under the rug 
.
. It raises concerns about the systemic normalization of violence and the influence of extreme ideologies on our society 
. As GoFundMe investigates this further, I hope they take a closer look at Ackman's connections and how his donation might be impacting the narrative around Ross's actions 
.
. I mean, what's next? Are we gonna see a GoFundMe campaign for the family of a police officer who killed someone because they thought they were a threat to national security? 
. I don't think Ackman did his due diligence on who he was donating to, and now we're left with a big ol' mess 
.