Texas attorney general investigates GoFundMe’s removal of Freedom Convoy vaccine protest
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into a GoFundMe fundraiser that was shut down after raising $10 million for Canadian truckers protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“GoFundMe’s response to an anti-mandate, pro-liberty movement should ring alarm bells to anyone using the donation platform and, more broadly, any American wanting to protect their constitutional rights,” Paxton said in a news release Wednesday. “Many Texans donated to this worthy cause. I am acting to protect Texas consumers so that they know where their hard-earned money is going, rather than allowing GoFundMe to divert money to another cause without the consent of Texas citizens. I will get to the bottom of this deceitful action.”
The fundraising website shut down the campaign in early February, citing that the fundraiser violated GoFundMe’s terms of service.
“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,” GoFundMe said in statement published on Medium on Feb. 4.
“GoFundMe supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created,” the statement read. “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 added that organizers of the campaign had provided “a clear distribution plan for the initial $1 million that was released … and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest.”
The fundraising website initially said it would distribute the rest of the millions of dollars in donations to “credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers,” but later said all funds would be given back to individual donors through automatic refunds within seven to 10 business days.
Paxton said his investigation will look into potential violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The protest, which began almost two weeks ago, continued Wednesday and has spread beyond the Canadian capital of Ottawa. This week, demonstrating truckers have partially blocked the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, the Associated Press reported.
The blockade at the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, prevented traffic from entering Canada while some U.S.-bound traffic was still moving, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said, calling the bridge “one of the most important border crossings in the world.” It carries 25% of all trade between Canada and the United States, the AP reported.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 12:31 PM.
