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GoFundMe closes 'Freedom convoy' fundraiser after reports from police

The platform said it would release the funds for a peaceful demonstration, but not for an occupation that has been linked to illegal activity.

An online fundraising platform has pulled the plug on a campaign that had collected more than $10 million for the "Freedom convoy," cutting off a major source of financial support for the demonstration that has choked the streets of the nation's capital for a week.

GoFundMe made the announcement Friday that the fundraising page would be closed, after concluding that the protest by truckers and their supporters in Ottawa has become an occupation.

"Given how this situation has evolved, no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers," the platform wrote in a blog post about the decision. "We will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities verified by GoFundMe."

It's been a week since a convoy protest calling for an end to all vaccine mandates in Canada — including one for truckers crossing the Canada-U.S. border — arrived in Ottawa.

Since then, the sound of horns has blared through the downtown core day and night, and streets have been overtaken by trucks and supporters' other vehicles. The display of Nazi swastikas by some protesters has drawn condemnation, as has the harassment of city residents. Participants in the protest have made a slew of demands — including delivering a pseudolegal "memorandum" demanding the Governor General and Senate take down the government.

GoFundMe said it "supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created."

In fact, the company initially released $1 million in funds to convoy organizers on Jan. 27 after they presented a plan for distributing the money to convoy participants.

Reports from police have seemingly changed that.

"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," said the statement.

The platform is allowing requests for donation refunds until Feb. 19.

Ottawa police posted a message to Twitter on Friday, thanking GoFundMe for the decision.

"We want to thank (GoFundMe) for listening to our concerns as a City and a police service," the police service account posted. "The decision to withhold funding for these unlawful demonstrations is an important step and we call on all crowdfunding sites to follow."

Chris Barber, one of the original organizers of the protest, took to TikTok on Friday to condemn the decision.

"Now GoFundMe has canceled the 10 million dollar thing, essentially leaving a whole bunch of trucks in Ottawa with no fuel money to get home. If this shouldn't piss everyone off right to the core of your foot I don't know what will," he said. "There are a few people in the high rises who don't like the horns and I apologize for that. I don't know what else to do about that."

He encouraged donors to the campaign to request their money back.

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The fundraiser in support of those protesting vaccine mandates had become the second largest campaign in Canada, next to the campaign created following the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018.

Started on Jan. 15 by Alberta woman Tamara Lich, the fundraiser stated that it was seeking donations to help with the cost of fuel, food and lodgings for truckers making their way to Ottawa.

The fundraiser was placed "under review" on Thursday. After the funds were placed under review, Lich started a new fundraiser on the Christian Crowdfunding site GiveSendGo, which had raised over $73,000 as of Friday evening.

In a video message introducing the fundraiser, Lich said the new fundraiser would "enable us to get donations into the hands of the truckers much, much quicker."

"We plan to be here for the long haul," Lich said in the video. "As long as it takes for your freedoms to be restored."

With files from Lex Harvey

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Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/02/04/gofundme-closes-freedom-convoy-fundraiser-after-reports-from-police.html